Why Scotland deserves a memorial to Nelson Mandela

We in Scotland often congratulate ourselves on being an open, welcoming and diverse society. It’s certainly true that public statements on issues like racism and immigration from the Scottish political leadership tend to be a welcome antidote to the xenophobia that manifests itself all too often in the Westminster equivalent. First published in the Morning Star

But we have our problems. Social attitude studies show that Scotland is largely the same as the rest of Britain in attitudes to issues like immigration. The poison of bigotry centred on the two biggest football teams just won’t go away and nobody seems to know how to tackle it. And we have racism, though we don’t always want to talk about it.

But in the last few weeks alone the local mainstream media has covered at least five stories of racist abuse in sport, several attacking the consultation on slave-trade connected statues in Edinburgh and some about racism in the community including an attack on a woman wearing a hijab. They are powerful reminders against complacency. Yes, there is condemnation, but that alone has limited persuasive effect.

Another way of lifting the public debate is to celebrate the other Scotland — the one that has a proud history of fighting inequality and racism, to confront the problems of today and build a focus for tackling them in the future.

We must strive to reach beyond our fellow activists

First published in the Morning Star on 15/8/17: The value of many public service workers’ pay has plummeted by £4,000 since 2010. Tens of thousands of jobs have gone from public services in Scotland. The need for services hasn’t gone away but the jobs that provide them have.

Those left behind struggle to carry on with fewer resources. It is sad to see workers who used to pride themselves in their service looking increasingly demoralised. No wonder there is a queue when it comes to voluntary redundancies.

So why aren’t public service workers furious? Why did not enough members even vote in Unison’s Scottish local government pay ballot to reach the Tories’ cynical 50% threshold?

Managing cuts or fighting for local services?

First published in the Morning Star on 21/2/17:
It’s budget season for Scotland’s local authorities, the time when councils tell us how good they are at managing cuts — or not as the case may be.

In the real world, jobs have gone in their thousands with remaining workers facing overwhelming workloads.

They are insulted by the government and media spin that cuts are “transformation,” closures are “estate rationalisation” and redundancies are “workforce planning.”

Social work on the brink

This first appeared in the Morning Star on 15/3/16: My name is John and I’m a social worker. There I’ve said it. After all it is World Social Work Day (15 March).

It used to be that when you were asked about your job, you would say ‘I work for the council’. It’s perhaps a reaction to the false media portrayal of council staff as a pile of lazy pen-pushers that more colleagues are now proudly confessing their social work identity.

That’s the problem when you are trying to defend local services. People don’t always know the range of essential services councils provide. When they actually need one of those services, they find resources are cut to the bone.

Even Leaner Times To Come For Poor Scots

First published in the Morning Star: Unions and community groups are gearing up for twin demonstrations in Edinburgh and Glasgow on October 29 against another savage round of council cuts.

Glasgow faces cuts of £103 million and 3,000 jobs over two years. This follows cuts of £250m and 4,000 jobs lost since 2010, hitting learning disability and mental health services, home care, supported education for children, community work, cleaning, library services and voluntary organisations.

Local authorities on the brink

Published in Morning Star 18/3/14:
I once received a letter which said: "Like you, we believe local services are more important than frozen poultry."

I was mildly puzzled because I couldn't recall ever having made such a profound analysis.

It turns out it was a reply to something a colleague had sent out contrasting the local paper's silence about 1,500 council job cuts with its campaign against 547 job losses at a chicken factory.