ATOS, GET TO F***!!!

ATOS, GET TO F***!!!

I have a friend and she is not well in the slightest.  She has great difficulty breathing and is also in tremendous pain due to an undiagnosed lung problem.  Back in 2010, this lady had two medicals to access her health for the DWP.  One assessment was for ESA, which was assessed by ATOS ,and the other assessment was for disability Living Allowance.

A couple of weeks later she received the results through the post.  She was awarded DLA at the higher rate with mobility component. ATOS found her ‘Fit for Work’ from her ESA assessment.

Anyone who has campaigned on the streets will have heard countless stories similar to this lady’s story.  A quick search online will also show thousands of heart-breaking stories that reflect so badly on the Government’s Work Capability Assessments (WCA).

There is an argument that there is little point blaming ATOS for the way the deal with disabled and ill people as they are not the organ-grinders. It is the Tory-led Government who has decided on this policy and ATOS ‘only follow the rules’ set down by them by the Government.  I believe that this argument is false and ATOS should be thoroughly attacked at every possible occasion.

Many, many moons ago I was a medic.  It was drilled into me how a medic should conduct themselves. There is an unwritten oath to treat patients and casualties with respect, dignity and humanely. Don’t get me wrong, we were no Florence Nightingales but we conducted ourselves with pride in our profession.

Those in the medical professional should have
 pride in their work and empathy when treating sick and disabled patients.

And so I look at ATOS and they sicken me. It repulses me that this repugnant IT firm has the stomach to enter the medical profession and to treat sick and disabled people in such a degrading manner.  I can’t get my head around how a nurse, the profession that is synonymous with empathic care, can look a disabled person in the eye knowing that their decision is going to have such a devastating effect on the life of that person.  How can they sleep at night?

ATOS needs to go. There is no place for them in our medical sector; they are an embarrassment, tainted by their gruesome WGA regime. Quite simply, ATOS get to F***!!!!


The solution:  This isn’t rocket science of radical thinking, it is simple.  Take disability and sickness benefit out of the hands of the DWP and, instead, have medics treat the ill and allow the NHS to administer disability and sickness benefit.  There is absolutely no sense in the Department of Works and Pensions having control of benefits with are not work or pensions related especially when the support that sick and disabled people can be very complex and require different agencies to work together.

So say after me, “ATOS, ATOS, GET TO F***!!!”

Lets have medics treating the ill and disabled

“The Energy Market Needs to be Nationalised.”

“The Energy Market Needs to be Nationalised.”

I bet that I wasn’t the only person who said, ‘Nationalise the Feckers’, when the news broke that SSE was raining energy prices by 8.2%.Yes the company that was fined £10.5M by OFGEM in April for ‘prolonged and excessive’ misselling had increase the energy prices so that the average fuel bill for their 10M customers in the UK rose by £106.  But don’t worry, they still had enough to pay their CEO a bonus of £1.8M last year.

One energy expert has said that this is ‘the final nail in the coffin ofaffordable energy’ while the citizen’s advice are expecting an ‘avalanche’ of energy rises from the Big Six.  The charity’s chief executive said that she hopes ‘other energy firms should anunderstanding of their customers’ financial situation but no raising their pricesthis winters.’ Sadly, there is no chance of that happening.

The conduct of the Big Six over the last decade has re-opened the debate over nationalisation of the energy market and we are now at the stage where I believe that it is essential that ‘public ownership’ should be seriously considered.

The Big 6 now have a monopoly over our energy market and have no issues over holding the country to ransom.  We saw the reaction when Ed Miliband spoke of prices freezes.  The Big 6 openly told the public that they would raise their prices to and (even more) inflated price to recoup future losses while also threatening ‘black outs’.  They believe that they have the right to bully, cajole and ignore our democratic systems.

Who doesn't dread their energy bills?

This needs to stop and never again must an essential asset of the UK be left to ‘market forces’ susceptible of being manipulated for profitable means.

Our energy infrastructure is in crisis. Lack of investment by the private sector has allowed an impeding energy crisis to come over the horizon.  To the shame of the Big 6, our energy rich country can no supply the energy demands of our nation.

The energy market is a complex market with different areas having different needs. TO ensure that all these area’s needs are met there needs to be leadership and direction for the long term strategy of the UK.  This can be done far more efficiently if the energy market was renationalised.  Rather than having an energy market that is geared towards profit making, we can have and energy market that is considerate to the customers’ needs and the needs to other stakeholders.

Over the last few years there has been a trend in Germany to ‘remunicipalise’ parts of the energy market.  Over 400 stadtwerke companies have been created since 2007. This new form of company, a public/public partnership between cities and regions has a constitution that prioritises the interests of the citizens over the interests of private enterprise.


We need to learn the lessons from the past and look at other successful nations to ensure that our energy market is commonly owned to benefit society as a whole and geared towards social needs not profitable needs.  We need a co-ordinated strategy to ensure that our energy market can provide sufficient energy for our nation’s need while tackling climate change and providing a real alternative to our carbon based economy.

Can Labour Learn from It’s Mistakes from the Past?

Mr Atlee, winning in '45

After winning election in July 45, Clement Attlee told a celebratory crowd that Labour had a ‘socialist principle of place the welfare of the nation before that of any section and of dealing with every problem in a practical and business-like manner.’

His deputy, and grandfather of Peter Mandelson, Herbert Morrison supervised the part’s program of nationalisation.  First the Bank of England was nationalised followed by civic aviation.  The NHS was created as was the National Coal Board, which created 90% of the UK’s energy supply.  By 1951 the iron, steel and gas industries were brought into public ownership as were there railway, electricity sector, canals and road haulage sector.

As well as this period of nationalisation, the Atlee Government also embarked on a house building program that we have not seen the likes of since.

The party fulfilled their promises of 45. They deal with political problems with enthusiasm and common sense while retaining their socialist values.

Aneurin Bevan visiting a young patient in the newly created NHS

Times have changed, politics has changed and the Labour party has changed.  It is no longer a socialist party, rejecting its own ‘public ownership’ and becoming a democratic socialist party.

It could be argued that the issues facing the present Labour Party are greater that the issues faced by the Labour party in 45.  The country is ‘penniless’, politics is ruled by apathy and the Labour party is tarnished and tainted due to its actions of the past.

Labour triumphed into power in 1997, finally taking over a country which had been ruined by Thatcherism.  The manufacturing sector was in ruins, the public sector on life support due to lack of funding while whole generations were ‘lost’ due to the policies of successive Tory Governments.

Mrs Thatcher reaped devastation within working class communities 

For all the positives that Labour achieved they also made serious errors which remain in our memory.  Policies such as allowing the UK to a lapdog for the USA, the lies that justified UK troops invading Iraq, refusing to repeal anti-union laws and bringing in ATOS to assess our sick and disable, all forced labour voters and members away from the party.

And it is more that specific policies.  The parliamentary Labour party was no longer reflective to their voters.  The party created by trade unionist no longer appeared to represent the labour movement. The party of the workers has been manipulated so that it now appeared that they are the party of big business.  Socialism was replaced by Democratic Socialism that was replaced by neoliberalism.

A failed election campaign where the highlight for the Labour party was Gordon Brown telling an elderly woman that she was a ‘bigot’ and Tory-led Government that is on par with Thatcher’s for its nastiness and vindictiveness has forced the Labour party to reassess it’s values and ethos.  Finally in 2013, the ‘s’ would was mentioned by a Labour Leader. Ed Miliband proclaimed that he was bring socialism back to British politics. 

Gordon Brown minutes before his infamous 'bigot' comment

So is this a new dawn for the Labour movement and party?  Has Labour learned their lesson?  Will they put people before profit, people before power or are they grandstanding to willing crowd, demoralised by constant Tory attacks?  Will the follow through with their vision of a modern socialist Britain or will their turn their backs on their voters and members again?

This is a pivotal moment in the history of the Labour party.  I believe that they will win the 2015 general election and the onus will be on them to prove, by actions not words, that the Labour party will proud stand up for their values and beliefs.  If they do, they will welcome in a new era of British politics.  If they don’t, then the Labour party will end as we know it and a new party that does represent our views will be formed.

Ed Miliband: A new Dawn for Labour?

This is Labour’s last chance…but will they blow it?

Resign Iain Duncan Smith, Resign!!

IDS needs to go!

Back in the early 2000s, the quiet man of politics, Iain Duncan Smith, was sacked as the Tory leader but, rather than remain in political wilderness, he began working on his return to front-line politics.

In 2002, Iain Duncan Smith went to the Glasgow scheme, Easterhouse to 'experience poverty first-hand'.  It was claimed that IDS had an ‘Easterhouse Epiphany’ when her ‘began to appreciate the scale of social breakdown occurring in Great Britain’ after visiting Easterhouse.

It was on the back of this visit that he created the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), an ‘independent’ think-tank which would promote and shape Conservative welfare policy.

So how did Easterhouse change IDS’ view on welfare?  In 1994 he wrote an editorial in the Mail where he:

Decried the growth in welfare spending

Claimed that the present welfare system betrays the intention of Beveridge

That is was defrauded on a large scale

Creates a ‘class’ of people incapable of helping themselves.

SOLUTION: “One income assessed benefit”

Speaking in 2010 as Dept. Work and Pensions Secretary where he:
               

                Decried the growth in welfare spending

Claimed that the present welfare system betrays the intention of Beveridge

That is was defrauded on a large scale

Claimed that the welfare system created a generation who were dependent on welfare

SOLUTION: Universal credit



Cynical people may claim that IDS’ “Easterhouse Epiphany” was nothing more that the whimperings of a man scrambling for political relevance.

Let’s have a look at a couple of aspects of Mr Duncan Smith’s management of the Department of Works and Pensions.

ATOS

There is an old joke in Glasgow that the ATOS assessment building in the city should be renamed ‘Lourdes’ as even the most ill and sick people are suddenly cured after visiting ATOS.


But this is no laughing matter.  There is a culture within ATOS, uncovered by secret filming by the Guardian, of staff being monitored to ensure that an ‘excessive’ number of applicants are not successful.  Those unsuccessful with their ATOS assessment are thrown to the mercy of the Tory’s work program without the access to the support that they need to ensure a quality of life.  Sadly, this culture has resulted in many deaths within the disabled community.

Michael Meacher MP told the House of Commons that 7,100 people died after being put into the support group after their ATOS assessment and that 1,300 died after being put in the work related group after assessment from ATOS.

THE BEDROOM TAX

The bedroom tax was brought in on the same week as the Tories gave a tax cut to their millionaire mates.  This policy, a housing benefit cut, affects the vulnerable, the poorly paid, the disabled and anyone else who has a home in the social sector that had a ‘spare’ bedroom’.

The Tories claimed that it was only ‘fair’ that tenants took responsibility for the housing crisis that was created by short-sighted politicians.

The bedroom tax is now politically isolated with all the main parties, except the Tories, coming out against this vindictive and blatantly unfair policy.


UNIVERSAL CREDIT

There are legitimate arguments for a simplified benefits systems but NOT this creation by the Centre of Social Justice.  Already there are reports that over £200M of taxpayer’s money has been spent trying to implement this policy.

Critics have warned that Universal Credit will be a disaster.  The plan to pay rent directly to the tenant rather than the landlord has increased rent arrears from 2% to 11% in the areas that this was trialled.  Experts have warned of the rise of homeless people and a leaked memo from Eric Pickles claimed that all savings from this policy will be nullified by the additional cost borne by local authorities dealing with their increase in homelessness.

Charities have criticised the planned change that Universal Credit would be paid monthly rather than weekly/fortnightly while the conditionality and sanctions attached to Universal Credit have been called punitive and unnecessary.


Iain Duncan Smith is a liar.  His political CV shows him to be an opportunist with little political substance.  He is either a very cold and heartless man of completely incompetent.  Either way, he should do the honourable thing and RESIGN NOW!!

Liam Fox MP: The REAL Leech on Society!

Liam Fox MP: The REAL Leech on Society!

Did you read the news recently?  Is seems as if the party that have shoved the false claim that there is a ‘culture of entitlement’ within benefit claimants, the party that tells us that we are a bunch of leeches, suckling at the state, are hypocritical cockwombles.

The Tory’s golden boy, the former £134k-a-year Defence Minister (who had to resign due to some dodgy business involving his ‘adviser’ Adam Werrity), had the audacity, the temerity, the sheer cheek to apply for travelling expense for a 100 meter journey.  And worse, he was paid 3p for this arduous trek.

It came to light from the Ipsa (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) that Dr Fox made a grand total of FIFTEEN successful claims of £1 or less for car travel in 12/13.

When confronted by the Sunday People, Dr Fox cowardly tried to blame his ‘office’ for the travelling expense claims.  “I don’t do my expenses’, he whimpered, looking for any way not to take responsibility for his actions.


Last week, when trying to justify his hair brained and dangerous plans to remove all employment and housing benefits to ALL under 25, the PM attempted to be of some relevance and claimed that there was a ‘culture of entitlement’ within working class youths. He was wrong, very wrong.  If the PM really wants to find the real scroungers, the real leeches of the state, he needn’t look very far. 

In total, Dr Fox claimed more that £160,000 in expenses in 2012/13.  That is the equivalent of the cost of JSA for 44 claimants for one year. 


The news that some MPs take a ride out of the taxpayer comes as no surprise to anyone.  We, the public, were promised that there would be a new and improved expenses system put into place after the Telegraph exposed the expenses scandal in 2008.

We were promised a raft of political reforms that would improve and modernise the Parliament, a full review of the political and democratic system and ‘a radical redistribution of power’. We got Ipsa…


Again, we have been failed by hypocritical, conniving Parliamentarians who just cannot be trusted.

Divide & Exploit. The Tories tactic to attack the vulnerable

Divide and Exploit

The Tories have often employed the tactic of “Divide & Exploit” since 2010. This isn't a new tactic, far from it.  This tactic is very similar to the divide & conquer that has been used for many, many years to control people.

Divide

·         The Government looks for sections of society that would be susceptible to this attack.

·         Once section of society is identified, the Government uses their friends in the media to highlight specific   outlandish cases which is then used to generalise the whole of that section of society

       Using a convenient excuse (savings, cost,efficiency), the Government withdraws/cuts funding to services that support that section ofsociety.

·         Any and all criticism is ignored or ridiculed.

At this stage, the section of society is isolated, under attack from the mainstream media and Government while struggling as essential services have been removed.

Protests after Leeds care homes and day centres closure plans are approved.

Exploit

Now that the propaganda has seeped into the people’s psyche the Government can overtly attack that section of society.
·         Direct financial support is removed or rationed.
·         Indirect support is reduced, removed or rationed.
·         Government lies and blocks any investigation into the impact of their policies has on that section of society
·         Scapegoating society’s ills onto the section of society that is isolated.

DPAC occupied the BBC yet received no media attention.

An ideal example of this tactic would be the Government’s treatment of the disabled.  The Governments friends in the media pumped out stories showing ‘benefit cheats’ and heavily implied that this fraudulent activity is prominent within the disability community.  At the same time funding was removed from carers’ centres and other services, leaving disabled people feeling under attack and isolated.

But the Government never expected what came next.  Instead of being isolated and under attack, the disabled community got together to protect their own and fought back.  DPAC, Black Triangle, Glasgow against Atos, community group led by disabled people, fighting for disabled people.

I think that we can all take inspiration from the disabled community and how they fought back against the dive and exploit tactic by the Tories.

Petition to have a street renamed after Mary Barbour in the village of her birth, Kilbarchan

***Click Here to Sign The Petition***

Mary Barbour: Kilbarchan's Greatest Daughter.

Political activist Mary Barbour (née Rough) was born 22nd February, 1875 in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

She is noted as a 'Red Clydesider' and one the leaders of 'Mrs. Barbour's Army' who through rent strikes fought against rent increases in 1915.

Mary was the first female Labour Councillor on Glasgow Town Council and as well as being the first woman Bailie on Glasgow Corporation she was also appointed one of Glasgow's first women Magistrates.

But in the village of her birth, Kilbarchan, there is no lasting reminder of Mary Barbour. I believe that there should be. I would prefer a monument in her memory but appreciate that times are hard.  Renaming a street in her memory was provide a lasting reminder to this great woman.

Democracy...Pfft its just a sham!

Alright Jim,

I read with interest your recent posts where you express frustration with the present democratic structures and processes within the UK.  It is a view which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Democratic System


Our current representative democracy is a sham.  It is an affront to each and every person who has voted.  We have a system whereby our elected representatives represent their political party and not their actual voters.  A representatives may enter into politics with the sincere intention to represent the electorate but once elected they are cajoled, bullied and blackmailed by party while to represent the party.

So, if MPs represent their Political Party, who represents us?

Party Politics is failing us

The party political system that we use is in desperate need of real reform. It is simply no longer fit for service.  The voting system, First by The Post, promotes this partisan types of politics but even if we had a more proportional voting system there are more fundamental problems.

In the olden days we had a three party system of the Conservatives, the Liberals and Labour.

·         Conservatives represent the ‘elite’ and wish to persevere the status quo.

·         Liberals represent the ‘middle classes’, wish to persevere the status quo but has a social conscience.

·         Labour represent the Labour movement, and wish to change the system and had a social conscience.

Which one represents you?

The decline of the Liberals in the last century has fundamentally changed British politics.  The Conservatives still represent the ‘elite’, nothing has changed there. But Labour has evolved from representing the Labour movement to attempting and failing to appeal to former traditional Liberal voters and the Labour movement.  This ethos of ‘being all things to all people’ has, in fact, alienated traditional Liberal and Labour voters.

We are now in a situation where there is no political party that is representing the labour movement at Westminster and for people like us, this is dangerous.

It seems to me that the labour movement has two choices: Stick with the Labour Party and change it from within or create another party that will represent the labour movement’s views at Westminster.


City of London

The City of London.

I was reading in a newspaper that the City of London has more ‘fiscal levers’ that the Treasury and my initial reactions what, ‘Yes! That is GOOD!!’.  But I did a wee bit more research and found out that business in the City of London get a vote in local elections.  I couldn’t believe that…but it gets worse.


In the City of London, businesses have MORE votes that the electorate.  This means, in effect, that these business have more ‘fiscal levers’ that democratic government that is elected.

How dare they! The economy of the UK belongs to the people of this country. And not businesses that care only for profit!  DO you think that these business will put the needs of the country before their want for more profit?


The Solution

It is ok to have a moan about politics but what can we do differently?  How can we improve it?

I believe that we should examine every aspect of our democratic processes and structures and if they are found wanting, then we should reform them.

Couple of solutions from the top of my head:

A constituency contract between the electorate and the MP, whereby the electorate can recall MPs who are not up to scratch. 
Reform of the voting system so that it is proportional representative.
Bring all fiscal tools back into the democratic system
Democratise our money supply
Create a mechanism so that the general public can force a general election.
Have full transparency on all aspects of our democracy, esp for lobbying and corruption.


But ultimately, this must come from us.  Politicians will not change anything unless there is pressure on them. We have a responsibility to stand up for our beliefs.

Take Care Bud

Alan

 ***a few days ago I PM'd Jim Buntin on my mobile phone and it didn't sent.  This is an expanded version of the PM that I tried to send***

Debt and the money in your pocket

Can you do me a favour?

Take a £1 coin and hold it in your hand.

97% of all our currency is made via debt
which has serious ramifications for our economy.

Did you know that 97p of that £1 was created by debt?

We have two mechanisms for creating money. One good and one bad.

GOOD

• ·         The Bank of England mints new coins and notes
• ·         These new notes and coins are then sold to other banks for a small profit.
• ·         The profit is returned to the Treasury
• ·         The Banks the distribute the cash
• ·         Only 3% of our money is create in this way.

BAD

Privately-owned banks have been given the ability to create digitial money. Sounds a bit complicated? I’ll explain

• ·         Family X wish to buy a house for £200k
• ·         They successfully apply at a privately-owned bank for a £200k mortgage.
• ·         The privately-owned bank creates £200k and credits into Family X’s bank account.
• ·         The privately-owned bank also creates £200k in debts that Family X now owes them.
• ·         To make a profit, the Privately-owned bank then puts interest on the debt which Family X will have to pay in full.

This process is called Fractional Reserve Banking and this process has some very bad effects on our economy and campaigners claim that it is this that was the core reason for the credit crunch.

·         Money creation by the banks creates an artificial boom

·         Eventually the debt becomes too much and the boom turns into bust

I highly recommned watching this documentary and/or visit this website: http://www.positivemoney.org

Governments, NOT tenants, are responsible for the Housing Crisis.

When the Tories speak about the bedroom tax, they often claim that it is fair.  I vehemently disagree with this. The Bedroom Tax, originally offically called the under-occupancy penalty, penalises tenants for a housing shortage that they have no control over. THAT is not fair, it is scapegoating.


The housing crisis is the responsibility of Governments not tenants.  From the mid 70s onwards, Governments moved away from subsidising building affordable homes. Due to this, less new affordable homes were build and construction of homes within the private sector took priority.  Thatcher's 'rent to buy' scheme took even more housing stock away from the social sector.  For nearly three decades governments have ignored housing experts and instead implemented short-term housing policies which did not solve the core problem: The lack of affordable housing stock held by Registered Social Landlords(RSL).

The core reason why the housing benefit bill is continuously rising is due to the lack of social housing in the public sector and rising rents in the private sector. As there is a lack of social housing, tenant need to move to the private sector where rents are higher. 

The solution to our housing shortage is not rocket science, it really is simple.  Build more affordable and suitably sized homes. We should embark on a home-building project that compares to Atlee’s post war program to  ensure that we have a flexible and modern housing system that is fit for purpose. And it makes economic sense also.  For ever £1 invested in construction of new homes, £2.09 is generated within that local economy.

 We need to regeneration schemes and estates so that homes are fit for purpose. Invest in our community so that it can flourish.

  We should concentrate on Capital projects,  new homes and infrastructure to build our way out of the economic mess we face.  A by-product of this would be house prices falling as the supply of new homes rise.

Social Housing is not just an asset in a balance sheet. It is people’s homes and it give security to some of the most vulnerable in our country. We should be proud of social housing and the safeguards that it gives vulnerable people and protect it from the Tories vicious assaults!

John MacLean: Scottish Worker, Scottish Socialist, Scottish Hero.

Daniel and Anne MacLean were both born in the Scottish Highlands.  They were victims of the Highland Clearances and the famine that followed.  At aged just 9, Anne walked from just outside Fort William to Renfrewshire without being able to speak a word of English.

After they married, the Maclean Family settle in Pollokshaws (which was then a small town within Renfrewshire). Sitting on his father’s lap, a young John McLean learned about the facts of the Highland Clearance.

Sadly John’s father, a potter by trade, died from silicosis (‘potter’s lung’) while their children were young.  This threw the family into poverty but Anne was insistent the John MacLean should receive a full education.

Due to Mrs MacLean’s perseverance, John MacLean studied at Pollok Academy then Queen’s Park Secondary.  He then enrolled at the University of Glasgow and received a Master of Arts In 1904.

It was while studying to be a teacher that John MacLean joined the Pollokshaws Progressive Union where they debated philosophy, literature and politics. Maclean joined the Scottish Democratic Federation (SDR), which was the first Marxist organisation in the UK.  He toured working-class industrial towns and cities spreading Marxist economics at public meetings and outside factory gates.

John MacLean was convinced that the standard of living for the working class could only be achieved through a social revolution.

MacLean was a fierce opponent of war.  He became increasingly disenchanted of the SDR due to the Federation’s pro-war stance in leadership and policy.

This disenchantment led John MacLean into the newly formed British Socialist Party in 1911. 

MacLean viewed the prospective war as being imperialistic in nature which would divide the working classes.  By 1911 John MacLean was an anti-war, anti-conscription activist and set out to spread his pacifistic views.

John MacLean again toured Scotland, telling workers that if they wanted to fight a Hun that they should fight the English King. 

In October 1915, MacLean was charged under the Defence of the Realm Act for ‘uttering remarks calculated to prejudice recruitment’.  He was found guilty, but as he refused to pay the £5 fine, he was sentenced to five days imprisonment.  This conviction resulted in MacLean being removed from his post as a teacher by Govan Board of Education.

MacLean became a full-time Marxist educator and founded the Scottish Labour College, which held classes in town and cities in Scotland.

John MacLean held open-air public meetings condemning the on-going war and conscription.  It was as a result of one of these meeting in January 1916 that MacLean was found guilty of six charges of sedition and, on the 11th April, was sentence to six years imprisonment.

His supporters in Glasgow campaigned for MacLean’s freedom and after agitation, John MacLean was released after 14 months and 22 days imprisonment.

In 1917 the Bolsheviks came to power In Russia.  Due to MacLean’s opposition to the war and his vocal Marxist views, he was appointed Soviet Consul in Glasgow.  The position was not recognised by the UK state and the British Authorities harassed and intimidated MacLean.

John Maclean on Soviet postage stamp

The police raided the consulate in April 1918 and John MacLean was arrested and faced 11 charges of attempting to cause mutiny, sedition and disaffection among the civilian population.

The court case was in May of that year and MacLean defended himself, delivering his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’..  He was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

‘I am not here as the accused, I am here as the accuser of capitalism, dripping with blood from head to foot’

Maclean delivering his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’.

Life in prison was harsh for MacLean. He went on hunger strike in May 1918 as he had fears that his food had been tampered with.  But outside the prison, MacLean’s supporters formed the Clyde Defence Committee to lead the campaign to free MacLean. They had weekly marches in Glasgow, demonstrations in London, and found support from all around Europe.

After sustained international and national pressure, the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, agreed to MacLean’s unconditional release in December 1918

MacLean was granted a Royal Pardon for his prison sentences in 1916 and 1918 but he refused this pardon saying that it was the campaigners who earned him his freedom and not the King.

MacLean was a Scottish Nationalist. He believed that a Marxist economy would work better in an independent Scotland. This led to disagreement with his comrades in Scotland and in Russia.  His stance was at odds with the British Socialist Party and the Scottish Labour Party.  Abroad, Russia believed that communism would be better served through a United Kingdom. Vladimir Lenin did not understand the nuances of British politics, so much so that he referred to MacLean as “England’s MacLean”.  MacLean’s pro-Independence stance resulted in him being ostracised by certain aspects of the Scottish political left.

By 1921 MacLean campaigned for the unemployed and formed the Tramps Trust Unlimited.  He again toured Scotland’s industrial towns and cities.  In May of that year, John MacLean encouraged miners to lead a worker’s revolution.  The authorities heard of this and MacLean was charged with sedition.  He was sent to jail for 3 months as a “political prisoner”

He again campaigned for the unemployed after his release.  In September 1921, at a meeting in Glasgow, he suggested that the unemployed should steal food rather than starve.  MacLean was charged for sedition and was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.

He then created the Scottish Workers Republican Party, which prescribed communism within an independent Scotland. The party contested elections but faced poor election results.

John Maclean’s casket being removed from his Pollokshaws home.

John MacLean died of pneumonia on the 22 November 1923.  Harsh conditions and being force-fed in prison certainly impacted on his health.  10,000 – 20,000 people attended his funeral in Glasgow.

The story of John MacLean was then forgotten by the Scottish political left.  It was John’s daughter, Nan Milton, who spend endless hours tirelessly typing up MacLean’s works and speeches.  She set up the John MacLean Society to ensure that the spirit of John MacLean lives on in the West of Scotland. 

A new generation, using MacLean and his comrades for inspiration, carries the same red flag as John MacLean and they will ensure that John MacLean will never be forgotten.

 Excerpts from ‘Speech from the Dock”

“I had a lecture, the principal heading of which was “Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not kill”, and I pointed out that as a consequence of the robbery that goes on in all civilised countries today, our respective countries have had to keep armies, and that inevitably our armies must clash together. On that and on other grounds, I consider capitalism the most infamous, bloody and evil system that mankind has ever witnessed. My language is regarded as extravagant language, but the events of the past four years have proved my contention….

It has been said that they cannot fathom my motive. For the full period of my active life I have been a teacher of economics to the working classes, and my contention has always been that capitalism is rotten to its foundations, and must give place to a new society. I had a lecture, the principal heading of which was “Thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not kill”, and I pointed out that as a consequence of the robbery that goes on in all civilised countries today, our respective countries have had to keep armies, and that inevitably our armies must clash together. On that and on other grounds, I consider capitalism the most infamous, bloody and evil system that mankind has ever witnessed.

I wish no harm to any human being, but I, as one man, am going to exercise my freedom of speech. No human being on the face of the earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything that is for the benefit of mankind. I am not here, then, as the accused; I am here as the accuser of capitalism dripping with blood from head to foot.

I have taken up unconstitutional action at this time because of the abnormal circumstances and because precedent has been given by the British government. I am a socialist, and have been fighting and will fight for an absolute reconstruction of society for the benefit of all. I am proud of my conduct. I have squared my conduct with my intellect, and if everyone had done so this war would not have taken place. I act square and clean for my principles. …. No matter what your accusations against me may be, no matter what reservations you keep at the back of your head, my appeal is to the working class. I appeal exclusively to them because they and they only can bring about the time when the whole world will be in one brotherhood, on a sound economic foundation. That, and that alone, can be the means of bringing about a re-organisation of society. That can only be obtained when the people of the world get the world, and retain the world.

“The call ‘Release John Maclean was never silent. Every week the socialist papers kept up the barrage and reminded their readers that in Germany Karl Liebknecht was already free, while in ‘democratic’ Britain John Maclean was lying in a prison cell being forcibly fed twice a day by an India rubber tube forced down his gullet or up his nose. ‘Is the Scottish Office’ asked Forward. ‘to be stained with a crime in some respects even more horrible and revolting, more callous and cruel, than that which the Governors of Ireland perpetrated on the shattered body of James Connolly?’ ”

The Paisley Martyrs of 1820

West Relief Church Paisley now Castlehead Church

Think of Paisley and you will probably think of the Paisley Pattern or the wondrous football team and league cup winners, St Mirren.  You make think of the Abbey or the fantastic view from the Car Park in the Sky.  Maybe you know Paisley quite well and you are aware of the poverty and deprivation in some schemes.  You may also be aware of the political mismanagement of the District which has allowed a once proud Town to be viewed as a suburb of Glasgow.

But scratch beneath the surface and you will see that Paisley’s vibrant and radical history seeps though each street in the Town.

In the early 19th Century, life was harsh for the average Paisley buddie.  Between 1800 and 1808 the average earnings for weavers had halved.  This continued until 1814 when local weavers successfully petitioned a local magistrate for higher earnings.  The Employees ignore the orders of the magistrate and, left with no other alternative, the weavers went on strike for nine weeks with the support of the National Committee of Scottish Union Society.

By 1816, vast swathes of working class Scots had be Radicalised by the continuing harsh conditions that were initially justified by the Napolenic war and the ‘uncaring’ and ‘unrepresentative’ Tory government which brought in laws such as the new Corn Laws, which resulted in food price remaining expensive.

It was in September 1816 that the first ever Scottish Radical public meeting took place at the West Relief Church in the area of Paisley that is now Castlehead.  Following that, over 40,000 working class Scots attended a Radical meeting in Glasgow Green demanding the end of the Corn Laws and a more representative Parliament.

Countless Radical meetings cropped up all across Great Britain, looking across the Channel towards the French Revolution for inspiration.

In 1819, eleven peaceful Radical protesters were killed by British militia in what was known as the Peterloomass massacre.

Residents of Paisley showed their support with their Mancunian brethren by holding a meeting in the south side of Paisley at Meikleriggs Moor.  After the meeting the Radicals ignored Magistrates orders by marching into Paisley.  The police tried to intervene and stop the march.  The subsequent serious rioting lasted a week.

In 1820, the Tory government in London implemented legislation that banned Radical public meeting with troops being dispatched to Paisley to resist the ‘revolutionaries’.

When news of the legislation reached Paisley, residents took up arms for political reform.  British militia found a weapons cache in Kilbarchan while there were reports of a Scottish Army marching in the streets of Glasgow.

In one incident when British militia was searching for weapons in Foxbar, a gun battle ensued between residents of Foxbar Home and those searching for weapons. Sadly a “young lad of the name of Cochran was shot through the heart” by British Militia and died.

On the 1st of April, the Committee for Forming a Provisional Government called for an immediate general strike.

By the 3rd of April over sixty thousand weavers in Scotland were on strike and the British Government had moved seven regiments into Glasgow.  There were reports of skirmishes between 300 Radicals and parts of the Calvary but no one was injured.

A band of Radicals, led by Andrew Hardy, marched from Glasgow to Carron Ironworks after being informed that there were weapons there which were ready to be collected.  At Condorrat the met up with fellow Radicals led by John Baird.  They continued their march until the 5th of April when, at Bonnymuir, they encountered British troops and a short battled ensued.  The Radicals were rounded up and arrested.

On the same day, the experienced Radical John Wilson and other Radicals marched to Strathaven.  Once there, they were identified and arrested.

On the 8th of April British militia transported prisoners from Paisley to Greenock Jail. They encountered trouble from locals but managed to transport their prisoners as planned.  On their return journey the militia were taunted by locals and retaliated by opening fire, killing an eight year old boy and injuring eleven.  Enraged, Greenock residents stormed Greenock Jail and released all the prisoners.

Eventually the uprising was quelled and a total of 88 men were charged with treason.

John Wilson was beheaded in Stirling in front of a crowd of 20,000 on the 4th August.

Andrew Hardy and John Baird were hanged then beheaded on the 8th September.

It was later revealed that British Agent Provocateur were in operation within the Radical movement, agitating the movement so that Radical Leaders could be easily identified.

The Radical Heart of Paisley still beats.  The 1820 Society ensures that the memory of John Wilson, John Baird and Andrew Hardy will never be forgotten and the hope of a fairer Scotland beats within every Paisley buddie’s heart.