Richie Venton speaks at a Save Our Schools protest outside the Scottish Parliament
An appeal to parents, carers and communities
by Richie Venton, Glasgow Save Our Schools Campaign organiser (in a personal capacity)
As a parent and lifelong socialist, I passionately believe decent
education should be a right, not a privilege to be bought by
those who can afford it.
That is why I’ve been at the heart of building the broad-based,
united Save Our Schools Campaign from day one, against the
Labour council’s brutal assault on working class communities and
kids’ education.
Labour deserves to be hammered in the 4th June elections.
They have treated people with utter contempt.
They spat in the face of public opinion, ignored a mass movement against
the closures, the 96% opposition to their cost-cutting exercise
- which risks kids’ health and safety as well as their education.
The Scottish Socialist Party opposed all 25 closures. We called for
cuts in class sizes, not kids’ education. We think 20’s plenty in any
class. And we fight for investment in local community schools,
not closures.
We all know about the obscene expenses racket by Westminster MPs.
They give pigs a bad name!
But 28 senior MSPs also stand to pocket £2million profit when they sell
their Edinburgh second homes - after getting their mortgage interest
paid for them out of taxpayers' money!
MSPs in ALL the big, mainstream parties are involved.
12 of the 28 are SNP; 7 are Labour; 5 are Lib Dems; 3 are Tory.
Five of them will profit by over £100,000 each.
We are told schools and nurseries need to be shut to save £3.7m
- yet these greedy chancers are set to pocket £2m.
And that's on top of their £55,381 basic salary - or £96,999 for
John Swinney, SNP government Finance Secretary, who is one
of the 28!
It's a scandal, a dirty disgrace. Reject these money-grabbing careerists.
Vote for principled people who are NOT in it for the money. Who
will only take the average skilled worker's wage. Nothing more.
That's what all the Scottish Socialist Party MSPs did - and it's what an SSP MEP will do.