VOICEScottishSocialist

DONATION STUDENT FRESHERS SPECIAL

A SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY PUBLICATION

Anti-fascism,Drugs,

ClimateChange &

a free poster!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

AT UNI?THE TORY TOFFSand their LibDemlapdogs in theWestminster coalition aregearing up to announce amassive attack on furthereducation – with directimplications for studentsacross the UK. Amongtheir plans are to:• Slash university andcollege funding by up to£3.5bn – directly

impacting on courses,jobs, research, studentplaces and degrees • Scrap a previousgovernment promise tointroduce 20,000 newstudent places• And in England, toraise tuition fees to up to£5000 a year –placingfurther pressure on theScottish govt to re-introduce them.

Not if theTories haveanything todo with it!

OOCCCCUUPPAATTIIOONN:: TThhee mmaassssiivvee wwaavvee ooff ssttuuddeenntt rreessiissttaannccee wwhhiicchhsswweepptt CCeennttrraall EEuurrooppee llaasstt yyeeaarr,, iinncclluuddiinngg tthhee UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooffVViieennnnaa ((aabboovvee)) ppooiinnttss tthhee wwaayy ffoorrwwaarrdd ffoorr tthhee aannttii--ccuuttssssttrruuggggllee hheerree..

2SCOTTISH SOCIALIST VOICE

by Liam Turbett

TONY Blair famously saidthat his priorities ingovernment could be summedup as ‘education, education,education’. We think that ‘war,war, war’ would be moreappropriate, but anyway... forthe current Tory-ledadministration, it’d be moreappropriate to phrase it as‘education cuts, educationcuts, education cuts’ – such isthe extent to which theircoalition of Sweeney Toffs areplanning to butcher fundingfor universities and collegesover the next few years.

When even the managementof the UK’s top universities,the Russell Group, areadmitting that our educationsystem faces ‘meltdown’, youknow things have got prettybad. The first signs cameearlier this year, when thegovernment announced initialcuts of nearly £1billion infunding for higher education –and this figure now lookslikely to triple as the Tories goon all-out war against thepublic sector, in their bid tomake ordinary people pay forthe crisis of the bankers andthe super-rich.

October’s budget spending

review will make clear theextent of the cuts in Englandand Wales. The followingmonth, the SNP governmentin Edinburgh is expected todraft their own Scottishbudget. But rather thanstanding up to the ConDembutchers, the SNP are insteadgoing to carry out their dirtywork for them, implementingexactly what their Torypaymasters tell them to. Somuch for ‘Scotland’sChampions’, eh?

Already, the cuts are hittingunis and colleges hard.Edinburgh University slashedtheir first year intake by 1300places this year – a third of thetotal. Stow College inGlasgow faces closure, withits funding being diverted toother colleges in the city. At

Glasgow Uni, managementhave, with barely anyconsultation, imposed a huge‘restructuring’ of the entireuni, which trade unions andstudent groups fear is just acover for job losses anddepartmental cuts.

In other words, the pretextof the economic crisis is beingused as an excuse to pushthrough cuts - and continuethe EU-led ‘Bologna Process’of opening up education toprivate companies and the freemarket. With this, there’s anincreasing attempt to orientateeducation towards the needs ofbig business - at least for themore profitable subjects, thatis.

Meanwhile, with youthunemployment at its highestfor decades, and continuing to

rise in Scotland, more peoplethan ever before are wantingto come in to higher education– for a dwindling number ofplaces. Most Scottishuniversities were unable tooffer clearing places this yeargiven the huge demand.

The only solution thegovernment, and indeed theuniversities, can come up withis to - where they exist -increase fees, and for Scottishstudents, to introduce them -the logical conclusion of theirbid to turn universities intolittle more than businesses.

This must be resisted atevery turn. We need a hugemovement of defiance tooppose the cuts across thewhole of society. Last year’swave of student unrest whichswept across central Europe,with mass demonstrations andoccupations involving tens ofthousands of students, pointsto the way forward for thestudent movement.

We also need to recognisethe underlying ideology of theattacks on education - a neo-liberal, capitalist drive to maketurn our colleges and unis overto big business - and fight it atits core. We say that oureducation is not for sale - let’sstart the fight back now!

WELCOME to the fresher’s special edi-tion of the Scottish Socialist Voice. Ifthis is the first time you’ve seen thispaper, you might be wondering aboutwho makes it and why. Here’s the deal.

The Voice is the newspaper of theScottish Socialist Party, and is the onlyregular radical, left-wing newspaperproduced in Scotland. Pretty much allthe other papers are right wing, andspread propaganda and misinforma-tion. But the Voice brings you the newsfrom a different perspective.

The SSP have been around for 10

and a bit years, and we fight for anindependent Scottish socialist republic.

With the economy in crisis and theTories about to start an all out war onordinary people, the need for socialistindependence for Scotland has neverbeen greater.

The SSP is dedicated to fighting theConDem cuts, and offering an alterna-tive vision of a Scotland where wedevote our resources to ending povertyand environmental destruction insteadof war, nuclear weapons and bankbailouts.

This issue is a special edition forfresher’s fairs written and producedentirely by Scottish Socialist Youth, aself-organised group of young (26 andunder) socialists who fight for radicalchange and against discriminationagainst youth. Young people are suffer-ing harder than most from the crisis,with unemployment soaring. The timeto fight back is now.

So read on for more news on whatSSP and SSY, and for details on howyou can join the fight to change theworld.

A Voice for change

STOP THE EDUCATION CUTS

FRESHERS SPECIAL

UNITY: Students and staff against education cuts

by Jack Ferguson

IN the last year an increasingnumber of scientists, doctorsand drugs workers have beenwilling to come out and saypublicly what everyoneinvolved in the field knows:the UK’s drugs policy is adisaster.

Around the world, othercountries are waking up to thefact that drugs should neverbe treated as a criminal justiceproblem. In Portugal, thegovernment decriminalisedpossession of all drugs in2001, and saw the rates ofcrime and addiction plummet.In the Netherlands cannabis istolerated and allowed limitedpublic sales, and yet peoplesmoke far less than they dohere. Across Latin America aswathe of countries havedecided to bring an end todrugs prohibition, and inCalifornia in November votersare due to vote on a proposalto legalise cannabis.

Meanwhile in the UK, thegovernment ignores theadvice of its own scientificexperts, such as when theAdvisory Council on theMisuse of Drugs (ACMD)told them not to reclassifycannabis as a “class B” drug,making punishments forpossession and dealingharsher. The government wentahead and did it anyway, andthen sacked Prof. David Nuttas chair of the council for hisinconvenient scientificfindings, such as the paper hepublished showing usingecstasy was less dangerousthan horse riding.

The result of this is that theUK has some of the highestrates of drugs misuse inEurope, and huge rates ofcrime by people withproblems forced into theft orprostitution to try and supporttheir addiction.

Human beings have alwaysused drugs, and drug usealways comes with risks. Butfor decades the risks havebeen overstated in the UKand US by ridiculouspropaganda, meaning thatyoung people often don’t trusttheir own governments togive them useful information.The latest in a long line ofdrugs panics were the liespeddled by the tabloids aboutmephedrone; they falselyclaimed it had killed a wholeseries of young people who it

was later found had died ofother causes. But thegovernment went ahead andbanned it anyway, givingillegal dealers yet anotherproduct.

Drugs prohibition suitscriminals just fine, ensuringthey get huge profits andface no regulation of whatthey put in their product.Meanwhile, drugs profits goon to fuel wars in places likeAfghanistan and Colombia,where western allies use themoney they get from heroin

or cocaine to do ourgovernments’ dirty work.The alcohol industry alsodon’t want to see an end toprohibition, worried aboutcompetition for their ownlegal, incredibly harmfuldrug.

The best way to deal withdrugs would be to recognisepeople have a right toexperiment with them, andour concern should beprotecting people’s health,not locking them up. Weshould have a legallyregulated market in relativelyharmless drugs like cannabis,and for real addicts theyshould be able to accessclean pharmaceutical heroinon prescription rather thanon the street.

That’s why SSY organisesa demonstration every yeardemanding the legalisationof cannabis and an end to thedrugs war. It’s high time thecommon sense expressed byscientists, doctors and peoplewho actually know whatthey’re talking about wasreflected in governmentpolicy, and we will go onfighting for that.

3SCOTTISH SOCIALIST VOICE

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FRESHERS SPECIAL

TIME TO CHANGE THE DRUGS LAWS

ACTION: SSY on the streetsPHOTO: Eddie Truman

6SCOTTISH SOCIALIST VOICE

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by Liam McCombes

THINK of ways to protect theenvironment, and you mightcome up with ideas such assuch as energy saving lightbulbs, recycling and reusableshopping bags. Earth Dayencourages people to turn offtheir lights for one hour a year,and many other widelypublicised campaigns tell eachone of us to do our bit for theplanet. But can small,individual actions like thesereally solve climate change, thebiggest problem thatcivilisation currently faces?

Unfortunately, thesemeasures don’t take intoaccount the structures ofsociety which have created theecological crisis in the firstplace. As an economic system,capitalism depends on growth,year after year. This means thatcompanies must constantlygrow bigger, increasing theirprofits, and making them richerand richer. If companies aren’table to expand, capitalismstops working - the recenteconomic crisis shows this. Inorder to be able to expand,finite and environmentallydangerous resources such as oiland gas are exploited with noregard for the damage thiscauses to the earth’s ecosystem.

Although most majorgovernments in the worldaccept the reality of man-madeclimate change, they have been

unable or unwilling to takeaction on it. The Copenhagensummit in 2009 was hailed asthe moment when the leadersof the world would finallycome up with a solution - it(predictably) ended in a failureto do so. Even if met, theScottish government’s promiseto cut carbon emissions 42 percent by the year 2020 is toolittle, too late. Because of theneed for companies tocontinually increase profits,and because of it’s heavyreliance on fossil fuels,governments are unable toregulate capitalism in a waythat protects the environment.

Additionally, the fossil fuelindustries are some of the mostrich and powerful organisationsin the world, and have anobvious vested interest indownplaying the need for achange to a sustainable systemof production. ExxonMobil, theworld’s largest oil company,

has poured hundreds ofthousands of pounds intoorganisations which whichpromote climate change“scepticism” - this scepticismamounts to no more than anti-scientific untruths. The fact ofman-made climate change isaccepted by the vast majorityof climate scientists, andExxonMobil’s funding of thosewho say otherwise again showshow capitalism’s only interestis in increased profits, at anycost.

Individual actions certainlydo no harm, and energyconservation is something thatshould be encouraged. But byfocusing on these type ofcampaigns, we ignore the realheart of the problem. The vastmajority of CO2 emissions areproduced by industry andcorporations. Because of this,even if everybody took steps toreduce their personal energyusage or live a more

environmentally-friendlylifestyle, the problem wouldstill remain.

It is true that if a significantproportion of the populationswitched to renewable energysources, this may go a longway to increasingsustainability. However, thisignores the fact that mostordinary people are simplyunable to do this - how manypeople do you know who canafford to mount solar panels ontheir roofs, with the pressuresof food costs, bills and rentalready putting a strain on mostpeople?

Instead of putting the blamefor climate change onindividuals, we should belooking for a collectivesolution. If industry was takeninto democratic, publicownership, we could decidewhat the best way forward torecovering the environment is.Renewable sources of energycould be invested in, andalternative methods ofmanufacturing could be used -with the focus on what’s goodfor people and for the planet,rather than what’s good forprofit margins. With a freepublic transport system, wecould reduce the reliance oncars and slash our use of fossilfuels. Only by getting rid ofcapitalism, with its singularfocus on money above all else,can we solve the ecologicalcrisis and save the planet.

YOU HAVE TO BE RED TO BE GREEN

CLIMATE CHAOS: profit before the planet

FRESHERS SPECIAL

FRESHERS SPECIAL

by Andy Bowden

UNLESS you’ve beenliving on the planetMars for the past coupleof weeks you’ll havenoticed the mediahysteria around therelease of ex-PrimeMinister and serial liarTony Blair’sautobiography - AJourney.

It’s the latestinstalment in NewLabour hacks freelyspilling the beans ontheir time inGovernment now theNu Lab project hascollapsed under theweight of it’s ownstinking lies. PeterMandelson alreadyreleased his book TheThird Man earlier thissummer, rejecting callsfrom friends and closeassociates to start acareer in children’sentertainment andbreakfast TV. GordonBrown hasn’t got intothe act so far, butsources close to thisauthor have revealed hisproposed title for hisautobiography has beenfinalised - Bugger offand die you scum, Iblame all of you for this(especially you Sue).

Blair’s autobiographyhas shot to the top ofthe bestseller list,breaking all previousrecords for sales ofpolitical and celebritybiogs. This is despitethe fact that so farBlair’s book has aboutas much regret,modesty and contritionas a coked up rockstarscrewing his waythrough an army ofgroupies. Only two

regrets from Blair’sbook appear to havebeen widely reported -first of all, that heregretted the banning ofFox Hunting, sayingthat euthanizingpensioners would havegiven him less hassle.And given his record inIraq, mass death is moreto his forte.

Unfortunately Iraqichildren just weren’t ascute as little baby foxesbeing ripped apart bybloodhounds, butnevertheless the factthat Tony Blair supportsrich public schoolboyschasing, tormenting andkilling animals for sportdoes reinforce his statusas an all round bit of anarse.

His second regret isthe freedom ofinformation act passedby New Labour, whichallows ordinarymembers of Joe Publicto find out some (oftenredacted) details ofwhat their Governmentis up to. God knowswhy Tony Blair wouldfind a little transparencyworrying. So the FoxHunting ban and the

Freedom of InformationAct - two rare halfwaydecent things done byhis Government - Blairopposed. That really iswhat you call 20:20hindsight.

There is of course noapology for the actwhich will define Blair- his support for theinvasion of Iraq.

His apologetics anddefence would be moresuited to a last ditchlegal defence with JoeBeltrami than areasoned analysis of theinvasion.

His justification boilsdown to a series of“what if’s” outlining thedanger of Iraq and Irancompeting for WMD’s.

He’s also been in thepress saying militaryaction has to be kept onthe table to deal withIran if necessary,showing that if nothingelse he does literallystick to his guns.

The rest of thereportage of the bookrevolves around Blair’shate/really totallydespise relationshipwith Gordon Brown -the first Scottish person

made unemployed andhomeless by last May’sTory victory.

He describes Brownas “maddening” forplotting to remove himas Prime Minister andrepeatedly making facesbehind him at cabinetmeetings.

Blair also reveals thatBrown threatened tobring the cash forhonours scandal topublic light if Blair didnot back his pensionreform, showing theunique blackmail andthreats based dynamicleadership thatcharacterised NewLabour’s Government.But as Blair is quoted inhis book:

“Politicians areobliged from time totime to conceal the fulltruth, to bend it andeven distort it, wherethe interests of thebigger strategic goaldemand it be done. Anddon’t get too offendedby it; we all make thesedecisions every day inour business andpersonal lives”.

Of course if you arecynical you might saythis passage could have

been summarised as“lying right throughyour teeth”.

Arguably the biggestBlair bombshell - andone that will no doubtinfluence the Labourleadership debate - isBlair’s effective supportfor the ConDem cuts inpublic services.

He explicitly calls forincrease in VAT, and‘reforms’ ie cuts inpublic service to slashthe deficit. At the sametime he outlines howNew Labour lostbecause it “stoppedbeing New Labour” - ieit went too far to theLeft.

This should surely bethe last nail in the coffinof Blair as a “Labour”leader - in the mostimportant question thecountry faces, of thecuts in public servicesand the deficit - Blair isa Tory. Just as healways has been.

You can pick up TonyBlair’s book A Journeyfor £12.50 in the crimesection of your localwaterstones, or in the £1bargain bucket at TheWorks in about 6months time.

The Wee Red Bookshop

Books, t-shirts, ideas to change the world!

All at very reasonable prices!

137 London Road, GlasgowPhone 0141 221 7470 for opening info,

or if you can donate books, we can arrange for them to

be picked up.

ONCE A BLIAR, ALWAYS A BLIAR

SIGNING: Blair was showered with eggs inDublin by anti-war protestors at his book launch

7SCOTTISH SOCIALIST VOICE

Scottish VoicetSSocialist voice.editorial@googlemail.comwww.ssy.org.uk

www.scottishsocialistparty.orgFOR SOCIALISM, INDEPENDENCE AND INTERNATIONALISM

THE racist thugs of the‘Scottish Defence League’suffered another majorsetback recently whentheir application for amarch through Glasgowcity centre on 18September was rejected bythe council.

This followed concernsover public order afteranti-fascist groups vowedto stop the SDL’s plans fora march on the warmemorial in GeorgeSquare.

The group – a rag-tagcollection of far-rightfootball hooligans andloyalists, who claim to be‘peacefully protestingagainst Islamic extremism’– have attempted to marchin the city before. On thatoccasion, last November,

they were met by amobilisation of thousandsof antiracists, who ensuredthat they were unable tomarch on the day. Sincethen, they’ve tried it twomore times, in Edinburgh,where similarly they werestopped by a thousands ofantifascists, and inKilmarnock, whereallowed their march andrally to go ahead.

After their humiliatingretreat over the GeorgeSquare demo, the SDLhave now applied foranother Glasgow march –on Saturday 6 Novemberin the east end of the city.

Activists from theScottish Anti-FascistAlliance have alreadybegan work to ensure thatanother mass convergence

of anti-racists can stop theSDL, using the sametactics of peaceful directaction that worked sosuccessfully in Glasgowand Edinburgh before.

The SDL themselveshave never been able tomuster more than around100 of their supporters fora demo so far – a vastlysmaller scale than downsouth, where the EnglishDefence League haveregularly been able tomuster upwards of 1500 totheir demonstrations andwreaked although they toolook to be on the backfoot after being smashedby local youth in Bradfordlast month.

But there should be noroom for complacencywhen dealing with the far-

right – in a time of hugeeconomic upheaval andunemployment, fascistslike the SDL and the BNPcan provide easy answersin their attempts to blameimmigrants and ethnicminorities for any numberof social problems, ablybacked up by a hystericalright-wing press.

We shouldn’t give themany room to grow.

Meanwhile in adisturbing development inAberdeen, the neo-NaziNational Front have takento leafleting high schools,handing out racistpropaganda calling onyoung people to ‘not matewith nonwhites’.

Local SAFA activists areworking to counter the NFactivities.

RACISTS NOT WELCOME!SDL postpone Glasgow Demo while Nazi NF step up activity in Aberdeen

NO PASARAN: Hundreds of anti-fascists poured on to the streets last November in direct action to stop the SDL

marching on Glasgow Central Mosque