Wednesday 9 November 2016

President elect Trump..what now?



I cannot pretend to have been enthusiastic about the US election, but I do worry over some of the ramifications of the outcome: President elect: Trump  http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/donald-trump/

I can wait and see what happens to the so-called ‘special relationship’, but it does depend on whom you ask! https://www.rt.com/uk/366024-president-trump-special-relationship/  
But I  dread to think what will happen in just two areas: the rise of xenophobia and all that entails, followed by the prospects across the globe for war or peace. 

As Clinton and Trump slugged it out, post nomination, we saw the rise and rise of extremism. It is now acceptable for politicians to openly label a section of the population ‘rapists and murderers’, without serious challenge or opposition. In a country founded by people fleeing religious intolerance, we heard the call to ban all people of one particular faith. And in the same country once famed for accepting the ‘huddled masses’, it is now acceptable to hear the assertion that a wall will be built to keep certain people out. This has been articulated through negative rhetoric of the wooing kind, playing to the basest of instincts and the worst of fears.  The wooing has seduced millions by saying that which was previously 'unsayable.' 

Now unleashed that rhetoric has found a home mostly but not exclusively within white males, unemployed and in  communities that believe  they have been overlooked and suffer from a lack of prospects: financial, social, educational, employment. Whereas the previous President Clinton and the incumbent Obama were orators of the smooth and silky kind, Trump’s showmanship has negatively exploited diversity and divided a nation even further than it was 8 years ago. As the rhetoric went unchallenged and slipped into respectable acceptability, facts and figures went unchecked, unchallenged and are now regarded by many as ‘true.’ 

The alienation of large sections of the voting population cannot be laid exclusively at Trump’s door. Will it be proven true that many black Americana stayed at home, disenchanted by the democratic party, previously seen as their natural political home? Is America working for them? Just how effective is local policing, or more appropriate, just why have some many black African Americans (mostly men) died at the hands of the police? 
And let’s face it, no one should ever consider any ‘ethnic’ block as homogeneous. Who can say that all Latinos did vote for Clinton, or that the democrats should have counted on their votes. 
It will be interesting job, keeping analysts going for a long time as they pour over exit polls and statistics. 

But for the future, and with regard to one aspect, foreign policy, Clinton was a recognised ‘hawk’, so just how far would she have gone to keep USA military out of wars, the  type not called ‘wars’, but known as  ‘interventions’? ‘Interventions’ that are meant to ‘stabilise’ a region, or remove a perceived bad guy for the USA’s good guy? Remember Libya? 

Will a businessman have a more pragmatic approach to working with the opposition? Will a businessman put profit before war, or profit from war? Only time will tell. 
 
But don’t tell me we can’t see similarities: Sanders, Corbyn, Farage: mass meetings with politically energised people, slogans on buses, billboards. Unchecked, unchallenged facts. 
Some people expressing the failure of capitalism and seeking change, pushing public ownership, public services. 
Others looking for ‘free markets,’, and restrictions on the movement of peoples, the fear of the outsider. 

We have seen the emergence of right wing parties such as The Alternative for Germany: (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_for_Germany  and the Greek Golden Dawn, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dawn_(political_party) and very worryingly, the resurgence of the right wing within political parties and the population of the UK.   
Maybe the USA is far away and I didn’t have a vote, but I ponder the long term both for the USA, its population and ourselves.

So beyond pondering, what will we learn? 
Following on from the general election of 2015, and the Brexit vote of 2016, are we witnessing a backlash aimed at an out of touch establishment,  politicians and their parties that have taken various ethnic votes, block votes, geo-based votes for granted and for too long? 

Am I wrong in believing that the new cadre of younger voters that voted in indeyref2014 are more than capable of listening, analysing and voting for their future? No, so I look forward to that high uptake as evidenced in 2014 continue in future elections.

More than anything though 

I hope we have all come to realise that voting is not a once off, and very especially, if you don’t get the result you wanted, all the more reason to continue to engage, criticise, challenge the politicians, their parties and policies. 
We have to return every time, time after time,  to cast our votes. 

Women died to have the privilege I have, my vote. I’m not going to disown that privilege by opting out.

I just hope that Americans have voted in a President that will serve their interests not his own, that will enrich the world with his actions, plans and policies…… not impoverish it.

I can but live in hope, and keep on voting.

Monday 17 October 2016

Best foot forward, post Brexit





So much to do, so little time, it’s changing for the worst. 
You see I'd gone to sleep in my own country, albeit 'governed' against the democratic mandate with a single representative MP here. But then I woke up to find rampant xenophobia  coming from the rUK government. It can only mean I’ve time warped. Back to main land Europe circa late 1930s. Such hatred, such bile.

Ironic then isn’t it that we have just seen the anniversary, 4th October 1936, of The Battle of Cable St London   and how ordinary, everyday people took to the streets to protest when fascism threatened.   



File:Battle-of-Cable-Street-red-plaque.png


Party politics didn’t seem to feature on that occasion. I wonder if they had committee meetings to plan the Battle, , or delegations going between the groups, making sure they all got a say, or equal billing.
But it happened and  it was acknowledged that they came, they joined up: communists, anarchists (yes, happy to be known by that tag) Labour and Jewish groups, individuals, the women hanging out their windows pelting the fascists with I hate to think what!
They all came together since it was acknowledged who the shared enemy was: Mosley and his Black Shirts.

Today that threat of extremism may appear more subtle, but 'lists', identification centred around names and appearances, the colour of your passport, or lack of one,  is no less threatening. The tag that the Westminster government is promoting:  ‘the foreigner’, the ‘outsider’ and the theme: ‘taking our jobs, unemployment, services not able to cope’, all being blamed on you know who, you know what!  It’s all beginning to coalesce in the use of barely disguised  xenophobic terminology. 

Where next…’coming over here, marrying our women? ‘ Sorry Dad, that would be you then! 
Oh, and then the next generation, my sons, ‘polluting the blood line’….another old tag, 20th century! Well, try telling that to the Angles, the Danes. And don’t even ask.... what have the Romans done for us? Settling here and forgetting to leave!

Seriously and apart from the vileness of this, we cannot be allowed to forget the underlying reasons.
The Tory party is attempting to divert attention away from their own ‘nasty party’ image…cleverly ascribing that to a self destructing Labour…and their own on-going internal divisions. A division that their hierarchy…Cameron, Osborne et al …hoped to end once and for all thru (winning) their EU referendum. One that they did not need to put into their last manifesto. T’was nothing more than a vanity project on Cameron’s part, to establish his authority in an attempt to finally lance the boil of EU division in his own party.

Instead, the Tories find themselves with a new PM, unelected by the voters, pushing thru a new – hastily- put -together -on –the- back -of -a -fag -packet –programme, neither a mandate nor a  manifesto. And Cameron and his cronies? A foot note at the moment, waiting for history to judge them more kindly sometime in the future. As for policy and direction post referendum. What policy? Out one day….Amber Rudd, that list, scuppered a few days later on Peston on Sunday by Justine Greening. 


And now? No matter my admiration for the Cable St Battle and what every day folk did, I am not advocating counter - flag waving - placards –and - in your face - -marches. When I see the Union Jack in the flag totting crowds,  I know how I feel. So  let’s be honest, if I was out there, wrapped in my Saltire, I believe I understand the feeling of others, not yet of my persuasion.

So I fervently hope that there will be the acceptance that internationalism is no bad thing. Narrow inward looking right wing nationalism is.
And that narrow minded, blame Johnny Foreigner is what Westminster is now pursuing in its efforts hold its party together, at least in the public gaze, and to stem any possible seeping of votes to UKIP. Hang on though, could they now be a busted flush? (Forgive me for that one, please! I couldn’t resist it.)

I don’t have the solution. But I passionately believe that politics is too important to leave to politicians. It's time then to put party political differences behind us. It's time to reach out and take constructive discussions to the nos, the maybes and the undecideds to secure a Scotland  that thrives, trades, welcomes, prospers and shares that prosperity. 
For that Scotland, we need to confirm the shared purpose : to de-couple from this union of ' Unequals'. 

This time round as we organise and then enter into the pre indeyref2 timescale, let’s be more prepared, let’s have positive questions and discussions ready to take out to the population.

‘What sort of Scotland do you want?’
And take their answers, show how rUK govt isn’t delivering, or isn’t delivering well enough, and how an inde Scotland could and will be different.

We need to be open and confident on all issues including finance, the currency, and immigration, not on the defensive, on the back foot.
And now, post Brexit, we need to counter so much of the negativity, fears and threats.



So much, so much to do…and a good start was this past weekend and IdeaSpace  brain child of commonspace.scot.  So many people, stalls, fringe meetings:  ideas discussed, exchanged, debated; contacts made and renewed; looking at innovations, changing for the better. Delighted to say it was so  busy at the WFI stall over the three days: a reaffirming treat! 
But that's all packed away, and now,  it's time to re engage  the debate. 


Drawing board time? Absolutely! #WFI  womenforindependence.org and local groups such as edinwfi    edinburghwfi.org   will again be part of the backbone of the Yes movement. We're not re running indeyref2, neither are we re running it differently. so let’s  start the process, locally-nationally, debating what we can do and how we will do it.  What mutual support can we offer across Scotland, one locality to the next ? What lived experiences can we share and learn from that will demonstrate the positive need for independence?


They said post Sept 2014 the genie was out the bottle and politics would never be the same. Same again, post Brexit.  But we're ready, even more ready than 2014.

Selma Rahman, Internationalist, Edinwif-er/WFI-er/ Edinburgh 





Friday 30 September 2016

s rahman edinburgh: Time to reach out to disaffected Labour

 We've seen the start of the party-conference season, and it's time.......



s rahman edinburgh: Time to reach out to disaffected Labour: Let’s reach out to everyone, not as ‘voters’, but as people, like us with a stake in the future …………..let’s not be defensive about how...

Time to reach out to disaffected Labour



Image result for scotland flagWFI Logo Edinburgh.jpg



Let’s reach out to everyone, not as ‘voters’, but as people, like us with a stake in the future …………..let’s not be defensive about how we see our future in an inde Scotland.  Let us be the ones asking hard questions, putting the others on the defensive next time round.  Like ..how will you guarantee womens’ pensions & retirement age in rUK , or maybe…how will you manage the deficit with low oil prices!  



We know it won’t be an easy ride, but let’s be prepared to take on the likes of the press and the pro UK parties……..let’s start by going to disaffected labour supporters.

Mainstream media continues to demonstrate that the re-elected Corbyn won't have an easy ride, either from that self-same media or his own party. The closing of the Labour party conference 28th Sept, Liverpool hasn’t shut down the ‘arguments’ and the internal difference. It has merely provided a hiatus…..catch that media mauling, every channel, and the majority of the newsprint. Can’t wait for the weekend onslaught!

This failure of labour to regroup, re-organise and even begin to establish itself as the opposition bodes ill for both rUK and Scotland.
It’s frightening but it has to be acknowledged that the Tory party now has free range in rUK, with the potential that PM May could call a snap general election in  2017: 'back me or sack me: show confidence in my government to deliver Brexit'…… the type of jingoism so beloved by the right wing.

The weekend 25th Sept saw Ruth Davidson writing in the Sunday Times, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/  appealing for labour support to transfer to the Tories in Scotland since she saw the (new) Tories as moderates ( yes, honestly!) Could this truly come to pass...that labour voters would prefer to see any party but SNP in local and national government?

The lack of Labour leadership...Kezia Dugdale was decimated on Sunday 25th BBC TV, Sunday Politics Scotland, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019cdqd then subsequently picked up, resulting in more derision…is an addendum to the political instability in rUK labour.
Would lib dems voters follow Labour, with tactical voting, putting party before people and Scotland? Not possible, just think ‘coalition’ again.
Really then, this means some form of right wing government in rUK is virtually inevitable.


So what will it take to get the message out, clear and simple: independence is no narrow minded, petty nationalism, unobtainable and unsustainable due to a lack of oil, and all the old fear based arguments?

Independence is the forward looking option, that recognises the needs and aspirations of Scotland.

Independence is the means to prioritise and deliver those very needs and aspirations as determined here by our own electorate. And there is a role for Labour.

As Carolyn Leckie wrote, Monday 26 Sept The National ...Labour can thrive again .....guarantee itself a glowing future, self governing Scotland
And was it some fluke that saw Mary Lockhart voted in as a Labour Councillor, Fife on an independence for Scotland platform? What is not to like, to fight for if your political belief is rooted 'labour'? 

The ideology of the right is not the political ethos of Scotland, no matter how often Ruth Davidson calls Scottish Tories…’moderates’.

That crippling austerity programme dreamt up by Cameron et al, now being followed up by May and her government is nothing more than war on the poorest, the least able, and the least responsible for the financial collapse.

And the third placed party here in Scotland, part of the fragmented  rUK labour party?
Please, don’t be fooled by that one seat on the NEC. It’s no more than that.
One seat will not address differences like Trident.
What about immigration? Our stance on that is so different here. Just ask the Brain family!
What about Brexit? Check out that referendum and the result here in Scotland!

And what of those Labour MPs so divorced from and suspicious of the new wave of Labour members?
They are not all left wing spoilers, Momentum wolves in sheep’s’ clothing.
There is rumour that back benchers will begin to produce their own, alternative ‘position papers’ on policy matters, potentially putting them at direct odds with and undermining the shadow cabinet. So, where is the time and energy to devote to policy, planning?
With its focus on trying to recover lost members, and  trying to portray ‘unity’ there is no future

It is surely time then for what remains of the Labour Party here to recognise that the best, the only way, to address issues pertinent to the people and the nation that is Scotland, is not to follow Westminster, but to argue for and then thrive in an independent Scotland.


It’s time in Scotland then not for…’we told you so’, ‘broken promises, unfilled vows’ …but to encourage and show those voters who won’t vote for the SNP and the Greens, that their parties have a vital role in an inde Scotland. 

Afterall, who decried a Scottish Parliament prior to us voting for it?

Who made sure they were ‘in’, they were part of the democratic change, at Holyrood, once it was achieved? (Build it and they will come? Oh yes!)

Who now has more MSPs than MPs?

Think on that and let’s reach out to everyone, not as voters, but as people like you and me, with a stake in Scotland and convince them of their role in an inde Scotland.



Selma is a member, WFI and serves on the National Committee WFI 

http://www.womenforindependence.org