Long distance road haulage should be replaced by rail, sea and/or waterway.  Regenerating our railways, bus and tram networks and our badly disused inland waterways – would save us all from the hideous juggernaut lorries that do so much environmental damage.

A Socialist policy means not only taking all the railways, buses and trams back into public ownership, but putting into place low fares or free travel which encourages still greater use, stimulating local economies while liberating people from the ghettos created by high-cost transport.

This means creating or restoring public transport networks to serve isolated areas and communities.  A sensible integrated transport policy must also involve the introduction of environmentally-friendly trams in all our cities and towns.

Encouraging the safe use of bicycles and the protection of pedestrians, especially in our towns and cities, would further help to reduce our dependence on cars.

Developing such a policy – ensuring that all our rail, bus, airline and waterways are in municipal and public ownership, with accountability at all levels – will require billions over the next 10 years, but would still leave Scotland trailing behind the French and Dutch systems.

Energy Policy

Scotland has never had an integrated energy policy.  As a result, our economy has never been able to plan energy supply and, more important, plan the cost of such a policy.

The situation has become worse during the past 30 years, particularly as a result of the destruction of Scotland’s deep mine coal industry.  Our indigenous energy resources are now so badly abused that we have to rely increasingly on coal imports, oil imports, opencast mining and gas for the generation of electricity, despite the fact that we warned that Scotland’s gas supplies would exhaust as a result of using gas to generate electricity.

Economic commonsense plays no part in Scotland’s energy programme.  Following the destruction of the coal industry, international gas and oil prices have rocketed and the price of oil and gas on the world market is at an all-time high. 

Without a sensible integrated energy policy – based on indigenous clean coal technology, Scotland’s economy will face a major crisis sooner rather than later.

The price for deadly nuclear power is astronomic – at least 450% more expensive than indigenous Scottish deep mined coal, 400% more expensive than gas, and over 350% more expensive than oil.

Commonsense would see dangerous, unnecessary nuclear power phased out  as it has been in Denmark,  Sweden, Germany and other countries throughout the world.

Scotland needs a long term integrated energy policy based on a deep mine coal industry which is publicly owned and controlled but at the same time our country needs to develop all forms of renewable energy such as wind, wave, tide, geothermal and solar power.

An energy policy of this kind would result in the employment of 50,000 people. 

The Socialist Labour Party would reduce Scotland’s dependence on imported oil and gas and would reopen at least 15 pits including those closed in 1992/93.  We would also develop 15 new mines, many of them in areas which have suffered vicious deprivation as a result of the pit closure programme. 

The Socialist Labour Party’s energy policy is not only cost effective but a policy which would provide cheaper energy for the consumer.  Our proposals would actually reduce energy costs, not increase them.

Such an integrated energy policy would include the cost of new technology for power stations and a move away from nuclear power to an indigenous deep mine, clean coal-based, integrated energy policy – a policy which would involve taking the mining industry back into public ownership, the opening or re-opening of 30 coal mines and developing renewable energies. 

Already Wales has announced the re-opening or opening of six pits – if it can be done in Wales, it can be done in Scotland.

Protecting the earth

The Socialist Labour Party’s environmental policies are closely connected to those on transport and energy.  We believe that only Socialist strategies can deal with pollution and toxic waste, ensure animal welfare, protect food chains as well as forests from destruction.

As a Party committed to extra-Parliamentary struggle, we applaud direct actions taken against motorway development, the live export of cattle, opencast mining, nuclear power and nuclear weapons bases.  We are proud that Socialist Labour members are involved in these campaigns, and believe that their actions set an example for us all. 

The commercial irradiation of many types of food – without our knowledge, let alone our consent – means that a number of foods now last weeks rather than days, but at what cost?  What effect does irradiation have on the human body, and how long before we all have to pay the price of the fast-food, get-rich- quick system which now operates in Britain?

The development of genetically modified crops is highly dangerous, and is something against which our Party campaigns. Those who try to ‘play God’ with our food, environment and the earth itself threaten disaster for future generations; they should be actively opposed in their manipulation of our eco-systems. 

We want to protect the countryside and all creatures that live in it.  We are completely opposed to all blood sports, and condemn those who advocate the killing of innocent animals and birds in the name of sport.  Oscar Wilde was right when he described fox hunting as the ‘unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable’.  We go further, and say that those who advocate hunting and killing for pleasure are the unacceptable pursuing for self gratification the defenceless and the innocent.

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to developing an environment in which living things are safe.  There was no point in holding world summits in Rio and Kyoto which lay down targets for reducing and eliminating pollution and then allowing countries like the USA – the worst polluter in the world - to blatantly breach international guidelines set `for the elimination of pollution.

We can transform the environment. We can eliminate acid rain by introducing gas de-sulphurisation units into our power stations.  We can eliminate the ‘greenhouse effect’ if power stations used fluidised bed combustion, together with a combined heat and power system and carbon capture. This would not only combat pollution but more than double the energy efficiency of coal-fired power stations.

Our Party is committed to dealing with toxic waste, which should not be burned in incinerators.  Pollution from chemical and other plants must be declared illegal throughout Scotland.

Employment

Full employment should be an essential aim.  The human and financial costs of unemployment are devastating, as people in Scotland know too well.  A study by the Rowntree Foundation revealed the facts hidden behind the  fabricated ‘statistics’.

The unemployment figure trumpeted by the Government is a lie.  The figure is based only on those who are allowed to claim benefit.  Unemployment statistics do not include the thousands who are in part-time work, or on short-term contracts trying their best to cope with low pay, poor conditions and total insecurity about the future.

Evidence of the real level of unemployment can be seen by reference to the number of households which have no wage earners. For example, in 1980, 5 per cent of Scotland’s households contained no wage earners – a figure which had risen dramatically to 20 per cent

The present policies actually create unemployment, deliberately butchering industries and services, destroying not only individual lives and families but devastating entire communities, leading directly to the social misery and unrest around us today.

At the same time, official policies have backed employers who continue to pay miserable, almost slave wages, and ruthlessly exploit their employees. 

The massive privatisation programme has led to obscene salary increases, bonus payments and ‘golden hand-shakes’ for top executives and company directors – while anti-union laws have been brought in to stop workers from effectively protecting jobs, industries, pay and conditions.

Meanwhile, our manufacturing industries have been butchered.  Once Scotland had over 80 per cent of its economy based on manufacturing, with vibrant coal, steel, ship building, heavy and light engineering industries, farming and fishing, supporting a strong economic structure.

Today, less than 20 per cent of our economy is based in manufacturing.  We have developed an inverted pyramid with a top-heavy service and financial structure, supported on a fragile 20 per cent manufacturing base – an economic system which is not sustainable.

Rebuilding and restoring our economy can only be done by regenerating our deep mine coal industry, re-developing our battered steel industry and ending all coal and steel imports into Britain. 

We have to rebuild – again, from the perspective of social need - our engineering industries, and restore the mighty ship building industry which was once the envy of the world and support our farming and fishing industries.

Unemployment – even under this unjust capitalist system – could be wiped out virtually overnight.  It requires just three basic measures:

·        A four-day working week;

·        A ban on all non-essential overtime;

·        Retirement on a voluntary basis with full pay at age 55.

These steps would create jobs for all who are able to work, but they must be real jobs – whether full-time or part-time (for those who cannot work full-time).  They must be permanent jobs (no more short-terms contracts) and they must be jobs paying a decent wage.

The introduction of a four-day working week, a ban on all non-essential overtime and voluntary retirement on full pay at age 55 would actually save money.  The vast majority of this cost could be met out of the billions currently paid out in unemployment and related benefits and by National Insurance contributions which would flow from the increased number of people in work.

Money lost through unemployment – lost through lack of purchasing power and income tax revenue - costs taxpayers billions a year.  Our employment policies would not only mean jobs for unemployed workers but a better deal all round for Scotland’s taxpayers.

National Minimum Wage

One of the most terrible indictments of this society is the ever-growing gulf between poor and rich.  Workers, particularly youngsters and pensioners, are ruthlessly exploited in Scotland’s so-called service industries, and child labour is back with a vengeance.

The gap between rich and poor is widening not only in Scotland but internationally.  The richest 20% of the world’s population receive each year 86% of the world’s wealth - whilst the poorest 20% of the world’s population exist on just 1 per cent of the world’s annual wealth.

In Scotland thousands live on or below the poverty level, whilst thousands of  pensioners have seen their pension decrease in value by over 40% since 1979 - a scandal of monumental proportion.  It is in fact theft on a massive scale.

Studies show that some of our lowest paid workers have actually suffered pay cuts over the past ten years, whilst Scotland’s top  company directors received average incomes of millions per year.  By any standard, this is obscene.

The Socialist Labour Party is totally committed to setting a proper statutory national minimum wage as the first essential step in putting things right.  We call for the introduction of a minimum wage of £10 per hour – a figure which would give workers on a 35-hour week £350, or an annual wage of £18,200.

Women workers, including those who work part-time, must be guaranteed equal pay (along with equal conditions and promotion opportunities) and young workers must have the same pay and conditions as other workers.

The introduction of a national minimum wage of £10 per hour could be easily met out of the massive profits of the oil companies and bank profits. The tax revenue paid by oil companies could be trebled without any trouble, particularly if these oil companies are taken into public ownership.

Repeal all anti-trade union laws

The anti-trade union laws retained and introduced by the New Labour government relate directly to unemployment and low pay.  The Socialist Labour Party is committed to scrapping these laws altogether.  They have been a weapon used to frighten workers and their unions, and are designed to stop them taking action to protect jobs, decent wages and good conditions – including pensions and sick pay.

We believe that trade unions, controlled democratically by their members, are vital for a free and just society.  Scottish workers are being denied the human rights set out in the United Nations Charter and in International Labour Organisation conventions.  Trade union activity has become in many cases a criminal offence.  Workers are denied the right to effectively defend themselves or other workers without facing prosecution, and at the beginning of the 21st century we still have no right to strike in Britain.

Trade unions which seek to defend jobs, services or industries face massive penalties, including the freezing of union funds (sequestration) or even receivership – all designed to stop unions from functioning effectively on behalf of their members, or in support of members of other trade unions.

Tragically, many unions are failing to defend members against exploitation and abuse.  The Socialist Labour Party believes that trade unions should refuse to co-operate with unjust laws.  Defiance by the trade union movement as a whole would render government anti-trade union legislation totally ineffective – as it did over a quarter of a century ago in 1971 and again in 1984/85 during the great miners’ strike

Had this type of defiance been sustained and supported over the past 36 years, it would not only have saved the jobs of millions, but would have protected vital industries throughout Scotland from butchery.  In place of these laws we demand a programme of positive trade union rights, in line with the United Nations charter and ILO conventions.

Public ownership and control of industries and services

Our economy is in a mess that cannot be fixed by cosmetics.  The real problem goes deeper than the terrible damage done by the Tories between 1979 and 1997 and by New Labour between 1997 and 2007.

It is Capitalism that is responsible for the destruction of our industries and services, mass unemployment, homelessness and the tragic social problems which follow.  We can only begin to solve these problems by attacking their root cause, and that means the eradication of capitalism itself.

The privatising of key industries and services, telecommunications, gas, water, electricity, coal, railways and health and welfare care has devastated our economy, which has been in poor shape for over 25 years.

New Labour’s talk of a ‘share-owning’ or ‘stake-holding’ society is rubbish.  The entire basis on which our economy operates is not only corrupt but fundamentally incapable of meeting the needs of the Scottish people.

The fact is that nearly half (48%) of privately-held wealth is in the hands of just 10% of the population.  That contrasts sharply with the 8 per cent of wealth held by 50% of the population.  The myth of a share-owning democracy has long since been exposed – a recent report revealed that 87.9 per cent of company shares were owned by only 4% of the adult population. 

The sell-off of key industries and services has been a major factor in Scotland’s economic decline.  We see what privatisation has done to our rail, steel, coal, electricity and gas industries.

Privatisation means not only lack of investment, it means low pay, poor conditions, falling of safety standards, the destruction of jobs – and all that, in turn, means higher unemployment and further economic stagnation.

Energy, water, public transport, telecommunications are all vital to any society’s welfare.  Like health care they are services on which we all depend.  They belong by rights to us all and they must be returned to public ownership.  This time, however, they must be properly managed, so that our industries and services are controlled BY the people FOR the people.

The Socialist Labour Party is firmly committed to taking all the industries and services privatised in the past 26 years back into public ownership.  At the same time we want to see Scotland’s banks, which recorded billions in profits, the major oil companies, insurance companies and other industries and services all taken into public ownership.

With public control and proper management operating for the common good, public and municipal ownership can always out-perform private enterprise.

Nearly 90 per cent of the Scottish people support the policy of taking back the entire rail system into public ownership and the taking back into municipal ownership buses which, together with rail, should be at the heart of an integrated transport system.  Experience has shown that privatisation results in chaos and disaster.  The solution is a commitment to public and municipal ownership where industries and services are owned and controlled by the people as a whole.

Taxation

Since 1997, the Scottish taxpayer has paid substantially more – not less – in taxes.  In fact, the average Scottish family is worse off now than it was in 1997 and considerably worse off than it was 28 years ago. 

Taxes have actually risen since New Labour was elected in 1997.  Mortgage tax relief for house buyers has been abolished and the tax burden has been moved from direct income tax on to indirect value added tax (VAT). 

This iniquitous tax, increased under New Labour, was introduced as part of the price Britain has to pay for  being a member of the European Union.

A tax system cannot be fair when a multi-millionaire or someone receiving in excess of £500,000 per year pays exactly the same tax (VAT) for goods or services as someone who is unemployed or a pensioner struggling on less than £100 per week.  The Socialist Labour Party demands that new rates of income tax should be introduced, thus ensuring that those who earn most pay most.  We would introduce the following income tax bands –

1.         income under £15,000                                             no tax payable

2.         income between £15,000 - £25,000                      20 per cent tax

3.         income between £25,000 - £40,000                      30 per cent tax

4.         income between £40,000 - £50,000                      40 per cent tax

5.         income between £50,000 - £100,000                    50 per cent tax

6.         income between £100,000 - £200,000                  60 per cent tax

7.         income over £200,000                                             70 per cent tax

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to the introduction of a completely new tax system – one which would abolish the iniquitous VAT altogether, and transfer tax liability from indirect to direct taxation.

Our Party would increase corporation and capital gains tax by 100%.  These measures together with a graduated income tax system would wipe out the European Union’s VAT tax, as well as ensuring that the ‘fat cats’ and all those on very high incomes would have to pay income tax directly in accordance with the income they receive:  a fair policy based on Socialist principles.  This policy would provide Scotland’s taxpayers with a fair and sensible tax system and would also pay - at least in part - for the policies advocated in this Manifesto.

Military spending

Arms expenditure should be cut by two-thirds and the nuclear missile programme scrapped alongside every other aspect of nuclear power.

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to turning “swords into ploughshares”.  We want to free the billions of pounds currently spent on weapons of death and destruction into rebuilding our National Health Service, education system, housing and guaranteed pensions in line with the agreement concluded in 1978.

 Our Party condemned the bombing of Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and the unlawful invasion and occupation of Iraq which to date has cost the lives of over three-quarters of a million people.  The Socialist Labour Party would bring all the troops home from Iraq now. 

We are an internationalist party which believes that countries have a sovereign right to determine their own destiny.  They should not be dictated to by countries which are militarily stronger and who seek to impose their ideology on weaker nations, particularly when they seek to gain control over oil reserves such as those reserves in Iraq. 

The unlawful invasion of Iraq contrasts sharply with the abject failure of the United Nations and the United States to deal with Israel, who continue to occupy Palestinian land and murder Palestinian men, women and children.  Israel should be outlawed as a pariah and the United Nations should demand Israel’s immediate withdrawal from all Palestinian occupied territories.

Our Party calls for an end to the United States’ sanctions against Cuba – which has been subjected to a blockade for over 40 years. 

We would cut defence expenditure by two-thirds, scrap the plan for Trident and send all United States armed forces back to America thereby saving billions per year, money which should and could be spent on our National Health Service, where it could be used to improve the quality of life rather than be used for weapons of destruction designed to destroy life.

The leaders of the United States Government and British Government who unlawfully invaded Iraq stand guilty as war criminals.  They – Bush and Blair - should be forced to stand trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity which have led to death and injury on a massive scale. 

The real target of the invasion of Iraq was to capture control of its massive oil reserves.  The assertion that the world is now a safer place is in direct contrast to the daily loss of life and the measures which are being introduced in countries throughout the world, measures brought about by the invasion of Iraq itself. 

We want to stop money being spent on weapons of death and destruction and use the money instead to help restore a natural balance in the environment of which humans are only one element.  We would cut defence expenditure by two-thirds and use the money on the NHS, care of the elderly and our pensioners thus saving and improving the quality of life, rather than and using money to destroy life!

European Union

The Socialist Labour Party is totally committed to complete withdrawal from the European Union, or Common Market as it was originally called.  That is the only way Britain can begin to regain control of its economy, sovereignty and its political powers. 

The European Union is a capitalist club that makes it easy for multi-national companies to exploit workers throughout its member states, while the sovereignty of those states is increasingly meaningless, and we are all at the mercy of a vast, faceless bureaucracy.

lt is a costly business for the  people of Scotland: membership  of the European Union means we suffer an annual net loss of billions, simply because we are in the EU.

Under the Maastricht and Nice Treaties, things will get even worse; Maastricht means still more public spending cuts dictated from Brussels, and thus even higher unemployment and deeper poverty.  The so-called Social Chapter has not helped Scotland and it has not restored the rights and benefits that workers enjoyed over a quarter of a century ago. 

The true political nature of the European Union is now becoming evident.  The drive to establish a European army (a concept first advocated by Adolf Hitler), the introduction of taxation policies such as VAT, laws which over-ride laws adopted by the Scottish people, do not represent an advance in either economic or human rights.  On the contrary, the laws now emanating from Europe mean that the Scottish working class is infinitely worse off then it was in the 1970s. 

 Our Party is committed to complete withdrawal from the European Union. Only by coming out of the European Union can we begin to put things right economically and socially; everything from the Health Service to child care depends on it.

We are opposed to joining the euro and committed to fighting to regain not only independence from a capitalist European super state or a United States of Europe, but we are committed to campaign for true internationalism so that we can have fair and reasonable trading links with the rest of the world.

Opposing the European Union is part of the Socialist Labour Party’s internationalist outlook.  We want Britain to come out of Europe and into the world, developing and expanding  links with nations in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, including countries like Cuba which has endured over 45 years of economic blockade and sanctions because the United States fears Socialism. 

Those political parties in Scotland who demand independence – including those parties who claim to be on the Left – are hypocrites because they want Scotland to be part of a Capitalist European Union which would take away all of Scotland’s independence. 

Equality for all women

Women make up more than half the human race, yet – along with children – we are a majority of the world’s poor and disadvantaged.

In Scotland women’s pay still averages only two-thirds that of men, and in many cases only 50%.  In the home, women still bear most of the burden of housework and childcare, as well as looking after others – all unpaid labour.  This burden has been increased in the past 28 years with the attacks on welfare services and the way the government has implemented ‘Care in the Community’.

Meanwhile, violence, pornography and sexual exploitation continue unabated.  If anything, there has been a shift backwards over the past 26 years in ideas about women’s dignity, independence and freedom.

Socialist Labour supports and promotes women’s equality within our own Party and is committed to the following measures that would benefit all women:

In the workplace: equal pay and conditions including for part-time workers, and a minimum wage to bring all low-paid workers out of poverty;  flexible maternity/paternity leave on full pay;  paid leave for women and men to care for sick dependants.

At home:  policies at work and elsewhere that enable men to be equally involved with women in child care, caring for others and domestic labour. Socialist Labour believes in providing real options for child care, ranging from free, good quality nurseries to financial support that enables parents to care for children at home.

All communities should provide good quality care and support for elderly, disabled and mentally ill people – not only for these people, but to relieve the caring burden carried by so many women.

The right to choose:  women must have the freedom to choose whether or not to have children without being punished for their choice.  There must be free, safe and reliable contraception available to women on the NHS, and free abortion on demand.  The NHS must be able to meet women’s health needs and make available health information we can understand.

Education and training:  women and girls must have equal access to education and training.  That includes creche facilities for parents returning to work or study after time off to care for children.  In our schools we must ensure an end to all sex differentiation in the subjects offered to girls and boys.

Safety from sexual/domestic violence:  society must ensure that women can move through their lives without fear.  Domestic and sexual violence are problems for society as a whole and should be treated with utmost seriousness.  Women who are victimised by either problem should have access if necessary to safe re-housing.  Sexual harassment in the workplace also creates misery for many women and we want the promotion of workplace policies to eradicate it.

Fighting racism

The Socialist Labour Party recognises that the poison of racism runs through the whole of society.  There is therefore a racial dimension to our policies on all matters where Black and Asian people suffer disproportionately – including education, housing, employment, immigration, and ‘law and order’.

It is no accident that the racist upsurge, including hostility against asylum seekers that we have seen across Europe in recent years coincides with huge attacks on organised labour, as the controllers of the European Union devise policies in order to meet the criteria laid down by the Maastricht Treaty and the Nice Summit.

Black and Asian people have been increasingly scapegoated by Government and the main opposition parties alike, at the same time as attacks on trade unionists and unemployed workers intensify.

Racially motivated attacks, murders, racist policing in ethnic minority areas are made worse by the press and pronouncements of Government.  This creates fear and anxiety not only among Black and Asian Britons but among our many refugee communities.  The Government has not prevented intensified racist hatred and resentment spreading throughout Scotland.

This has nourished the far Right, and we find ourselves facing a social crisis in which racial hatred is so legitimised that violence and murder have become common place.

The Socialist Labour Party challenges racism – in hiring, education and training – within our policies for full employment.  We want the introduction of “positive action” alongside real training to ensure that minorities are not trapped in low pay and low status positions.

Racism centuries old, and only through Socialist policies can it finally be eradicated.

Our quality of life: culture and sport

Everyone by right should be able to take part in and experience music, dance, drama and the visual arts including painting and sculpture. Observing and/or participating in all art forms enriches our own lives, our understanding of one another and thus of our society.

Under capitalism, however, the arts are governed by money interests which exclude most of us from sharing in these experiences.

The same is true of sport, which is now totally under the thumb of big business and sponsorship pressures.

Under capitalism, the talents of millions go unrecognised and undeveloped, adding to the frustrations of individual lives and contributing to an unhappy, unstable society.

The Socialist Labour Party believes that sport and the arts belong to all of us, and should be funded and managed so that from early childhood everyone has the chance to discover and develop our creative interests and potential, not just for our own pleasure but to help us to contribute more to the world around us.

Theatre, dance, music and the visual arts should be part of every community’s life, linked to our schools and welfare provision for people of all ages – and linked to libraries and local museums as well. 

The butchery of local and branch libraries is one of the worst social crimes committed over the past 20 years and it must stop. Community libraries, including mobile libraries, museums and art galleries must be re-established.

Likewise, community-based sports facilities must be regenerated, available to all our children, and to adults as well (it’s time to stop New Labour selling off school playing fields which by right are an integral part of each community).

End disabilities discrimination

Those of us who are in any way disabled want rights, not charity, and the Socialist Labour Party wants provisions that enable everybody with disabilities to play a full and active role in building a better society.  In order to achieve this, we want to outlaw all discrimination in employment, services and amenities.  Disabled people are best able to help themselves through control over their own lives. 

There must be full and equal access to transport, services and activities.  We want provision of ‘self assessment’ so that those who depend on aids such as wheelchairs can be involved in deciding what equipment is best for them to use.  We want an end to segregated education, and provision of resources to ensure that integrated education works properly.

We want an end to institutionalisation; we with disabilities should be able to live and participate fully in the life of our communities.

For those struggling with forms of mental illness there must be support that meets inner and outer human needs.  Mental ill health takes a variety of forms, which are affected by class, age, gender and race.  We demand policies that acknowledge these differences and provide care which aims to help and heal

A future for youth

No section of society has suffered more than the young during the past 28 years.  The butchery of industries, services and apprenticeships has gone hand in hand with attacks on every area of education and training.  In Scottish society today what hope for the future can young people have?

Hopelessness leads to despair which will not be solved by the ‘law and order’ outlook of the Tories, New Labour, the SNP or the far Right.  Young people must be able to participate fully in our society and in the world, while they themselves are growing and learning.

Our full employment, minimum wage and equal pay policies would help accomplish that.  In rebuilding Scotland’s industrial and manufacturing base we would re-establish proper apprenticeship schemes, paying a proper wage.  Reducing the working week with no loss of earnings would create more jobs for our youth and help generate more purchasing power within society.

In today’s society the young are especially vulnerable to the abuse of police powers; Socialist Labour’s policies (including scrapping ‘stop and search’ laws) would end that abuse. 

Children’s rights

The exploitation and abuse of children, including abuse for profit, is one of the ugliest features of capitalist societies such as Britain.

We can have no higher goal than doing our best to ensure that every baby born into this world is wanted and will be cared for physically and emotionally throughout childhood and into adult life.

This is the responsibility of families (in the many forms that family life can take) and society, including schools and communities.  We cannot legislate for love; however, education in the fullest sense (including sex education), full employment, decent housing and free health care would lay a proper foundation for the welfare of all children.

Justice for all

Laws have been created over the centuries by some human beings for the purpose of controlling other human beings.  In Scotland, the legal system has been systematically used to hold back struggles against unemployment, poverty, war and racism.  It ignores and denies many basic human rights.

The Socialist Labour Party wants a complete overhaul of Scotland’s justice system.  We are committed to a written Scottish Constitution which sets out clearly the human rights and civil liberties of all who reside here

Proper legal representation, a fair hearing and a fair opportunity to put your case – these rights should be available to all, not just a privileged few.

Any plan to end the right to trial by jury is an attack on civil liberties and human rights.  These plans seeks to reverse rights won over centuries of struggle for a person to be judged by his or her peers rather than a single Judge who has in all likelihood come from a privileged background.  

We cannot allow the right to trial by jury to be taken away, and our Party will not only defend that right, but campaign to reverse any measures introduced which seek to erode it.  The Socialist Labour Party opposes the draconian measures currently being pursued to arrest and detain people without evidence and without charge.  If this measure is not opposed, it will reverse those hard-won rights which have taken centuries to achieve.

The Constitution

The Socialist Labour Party is firmly committed to a written Constitution which incorporates a democratic proportional representation voting system.  Proportional representation, like common ownership, is a Socialist demand. 

It was a demand supported by outstanding Socialists such as Keir Hardie, John McLean and James Connolly, and for years formed a cornerstone of Socialist demands for a democratic electoral system.  If Scotland had been able to introduce a fair proportional representation system at the end of the Second World War, no Tory government would ever have been elected.

A written Constitution should embody all individual and collective rights so that Judges would implement and not interpret the Constitution; this, together with a Bill of Rights, would allow a fair democratic system in which people could determine what type of Constitution we should have and then ensure that it is at all times upheld in the interests of us all.

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

The creation of the Scottish Parliament has not altered the nature of capitalism in Scotland and the need for Socialist policies.

The Scotland Act which established the Scottish Parliament does not seriously affect Westminster’s firm grip on the purse strings that control funding.

In Scotland with the butchery of the coal and steel industries, including the closure of the giant steel plant at Ravenscraig.  Ship-building in Scotland – also once the envy of the world – is now a rump. Docklands in Scotland have become theme parks rather than bustling centres of international trade.

In Scotland, health care, education, housing, employment and community life have continued to deteriorate.  In 1997 the Socialist Labour Party warned that the policies of both the Tories and New Labour would lead to more closures and lost jobs in Scotland.  Tragically, our predictions have proved to be accurate, as New Labour has followed the Tories and slavishly adopted the so-called ‘free market’ system – a ‘free market’ which has destroyed not only people’s jobs but their communities and ways of life.

 The Socialist Labour Party is opposed to Scotland joining the European Union in the same way as we oppose Britain’s continued membership of the EU.  It is nonsense to argue for more or complete independence, whilst at the same time agreeing to give away that independence to the European Union, thereby having the affairs of Scotland controlled by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

Whilst the Socialist Labour Party acknowledges and celebrates the history of Scotland and its rich and specific cultures, ours is a Socialist and not a nationalist perspective. We believe that the people of Scotland must have the right to vote for or against full independence.

A decision of such profound importance must rest with those who are directly involved and whose lives would be most affected by the consequences - but we know that for all people, fulfilling the need for self-determination can only come alongside fundamental economic change.

A peaceful and prosperous world

We are an internationalist party.  We do not accept that wars, poverty, unemployment and oppression are inevitable or acts of God; they spring from the injustices of a corrupt capitalist system.

The Socialist Labour Party’s international policies emanate from our commitment to change the world by eliminating these injustices and inequalities.

We believe that each nation can achieve a decent and dignified quality of life for its citizens, alongside every other nation.  This includes safeguarding the environment and rights of each nation’s indigenous peoples.

The Socialist Labour Party is opposed to aggression or interference by any country or group of countries in the affairs of a sovereign nation whose internal affairs should be determined by its own people.

The world today is controlled by financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation.  These are undemocratic bodies that exist to defend and maintain capitalism around the globe.  The Socialist Labour Party believes it is necessary to withdraw from them and make clear our abhorrence of global capitalism and of all those who support it.

Our Party is committed to withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO.  We do not agree with current military alliances that tie foreign policy to multi-national companies and other governments that defend them.  We oppose the concept of a European army or task force which can only exacerbate conflict and not resolve it.

We want links with international trade unionism and with movements for peace, environmental protection, women’s rights and above all, Socialism.

The Socialist Labour Party condemns the use of economic and political blockades or sanctions which are used by international capitalism against countries - such as Cuba – that challenge the very basis of capitalism.

We support the cancellation of debts held against impoverished nations, and believe that the world trading system is creating ever greater inequality.  We demand ‘fair trade’, not ‘free trade’.

We believe that Scotland’s defence industry and forces are far too big.  We would withdraw all Scotland’s forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.  We should cut our defence budget by two-thirds, and plough the billions released into the NHS, pensions and re-build the manufacturing base of Scotland’s economy. The Socialist Labour Party really would turn swords into ploughshares.

Scotland does not need nuclear weapons or nuclear war bases.  The Socialist Labour Party supports unilateral nuclear disarmament and wants an international ban on all weapons of mass destruction, including anti-personnel devices, Trident nuclear missiles and the removal of all foreign bases from Scotland.

We would end Scotland’s reliance on the evil arms trade and halt all production of instruments of torture.  We would stop the sale of arms – this is a trade which deals in death.  Instead, we would export equipment to help third world countries to help themselves maintain and improve the quality of life.

Socialism

The policies outlined in this Manifesto deal with the injustices and inequalities that people currently face in Scotland.  They are not, and cannot be, a long-term or permanent solution to a system where a small section of society feeds off the majority – inevitably creating crisis after crisis with devastating effect on human lives.

The solution lies in abolishing capitalism and replacing it with a Socialist system whose institutions represent the people as a whole, and which are democratically controlled by and accountable to them.

We want to secure for the people a full return of all the wealth generated by Britain’s industries and services on the basis of common and social ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.

 We are committed to establishing the most equitable distribution of that wealth, ensuring a free health service at the time of need and upon demand, together with a free education system available to all.

Our Party is committed to freedom of assembly, movement, speech and association, and to promoting and protecting an environment in which the Earth’s resources are properly used – not just for human beings but for all other forms of life.  In the words of the legendary Socialist and Founder of the Socialist Labour Party, James Connolly: 

Our demands most moderate are – we only want the Earth.

                                                                                    SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY

 3)

Press Release Thursday, 26^th April.

Socialist Labour says:

NO to Council Tax and Local Income Tax.

The Socialist Labour Party in Scotland today condemned both the Council Tax supported by New Labour and the Tories and all the variants of Local Income Tax as supported by all the rest. Louise McDaid, West of Scotland lead candidate, said today “both these systems of tax raising have serious flaws and particularly favour the wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. The SLP favour a unitary system of central graduated direct income based taxation that ensures the fat cats pay their fair share on ALL the income they receive”.

The full manifesto commitment on taxation is outlined below.

Since 1997, the Scottish taxpayer has paid substantially more – not less – in taxes.  In fact, the average Scottish family is worse off now than it was in 1997 and considerably worse off than it was 28 years ago. 

Taxes have actually risen since New Labour was elected in 1997.  Mortgage tax relief for house buyers has been abolished and the tax burden has been moved from direct income tax on to indirect value added tax (VAT). 

This iniquitous tax, increased under New Labour, was introduced as part of the price Britain has to pay for  being a member of the European Union.

A tax system cannot be fair when a multi-millionaire or someone receiving in excess of £500,000 per year pays exactly the same tax (VAT) for goods or services as someone who is unemployed or a pensioner struggling on less than £100 per week.  The Socialist Labour Party demands that new rates of income tax should be introduced, thus ensuring that those who earn most pay most.  We would introduce the following income tax bands –

1.         income under £15,000                                           no tax payable

2.         income between £15,000 - £25,000                      20 per cent tax

3.         income between £25,000 - £40,000                      30 per cent tax

4.         income between £40,000 - £50,000                      40 per cent tax

5.         income between £50,000 - £100,000                    50 per cent tax

6.         income between £100,000 - £200,000                  60 per cent tax

7.         income over £200,000                                         70 per cent tax

The Socialist Labour Party is committed to the introduction of a completely new tax system – one which would abolish the iniquitous VAT altogether, and transfer tax liability from indirect to direct taxation.

Our Party would increase corporation and capital gains tax by 100%.  These measures together with a graduated income tax system would wipe out the European Union’s VAT tax, as well as ensuring that the ‘fat cats’ and all those on very high incomes would have to pay income tax directly in accordance with the income they receive:  a fair policy based on Socialist principles.  This policy would provide Scotland’s taxpayers with a fair and sensible tax system and would also pay - at least in part - for the policies advocated in our Manifesto.

FAREPAK VICTIMS COMMITTEE 

DEFENDANTS:         European Home Retail, Farepak, Halifax Bank of Scotland,

                                    Government.

PROSECUTION:       Farepak Victims 

Defendants:         &