So now we know who will wield the knife. 

After days of political theatre, (or was it pantomime?) the deal has been done and the Liberal Democrats have decided to back David Cameron and the Tories.

To the dismay of thousands who voted Lib Dem in order to keep the Tories out, Clegg and his team have already abandoned manifesto pledges and promises on PR in elections, Trident and Immigration in return for seats in the cabinet. 

Here in Scotland, the Liberals have facilitated a Tory Government rejected by 85% of the electorate. Installed as Secretary of State for Scotland is a man, Danny Alexander, who just days before appointment was campaigning for that same post to be abolished. 

Once the back slapping and photo opportunities have stopped the Con-Dem’s will set about their priority policy - £6 billion of immediate cuts in the public sector. 

The coalition of Clegg and Cameron want to portray themselves somehow as the “new politics”, however, their proposals for cuts and sackings are the same old politics that has always been employed against working people throughout the decades - we pay for their mistakes.

Get Real - make the Super Rich Pay their Fair Share

Laughing all the way to the bank - Lakshi Mittal

The Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (STUSC) today condemned as obscene the revelations in the Sunday Times that the richest people in the UK have seen their wealth rise by a colossal 30% in the last year. 

The myth that public sector cuts are the only way that Britain can pay the price for bailing out the banks has been exposed as the Sunday Times published its annual “Rich List.” At  time when all the main political parties are united around the idea that cutting services, jobs and wages is the only way that the bank bailout can be funded, the “List” exposes that the super rich in the UK have seen their earning rise by 29.9% to £335.5 billion.

Aamer Anwar reads a statement outside court

Five Palestine campaigners who contested the relevancy of a “racially aggravated conduct” charge in relation to their protest against Israel’s blockade of Gaza had all charges against them dropped today. 

The campaigners, all members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC), had interrupted the August 2008 Edinburgh Festival concert by the Jerusalem Quartet. Tours by the classical musicians are regularly sponsored by the Israeli Government, which the campaign group claims makes them a legitimate target for protest. 

The campaigners had been accused of making “comments about Jews, Israelis, and the State of Israel”, but during a three-day legal debate at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, a BBC audio recording of the event revealed that there had been no reference made to “Jews”. Comments included “They are Israeli Army musicians”, “End the Siege of Gaza”, “Genocide in Gaza”, and “Boycott Israel”.

Sheriff James Scott ruled that “the comments were clearly directed at the State of Israel, the Israeli Army, and Israeli Army musicians”, and not targeted at “citizens of Israel” per se. “The procurator fiscal’s attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed facts were rather strained”, he said. 

Read the SPSC website here or click on the link on the Solidarity homepage.

For Solidarity website reports on previous court appearances click here and here

For a report of speeches by 2 of the SPSC5 at Solidarity Conference click here