The SWP and anti-rape protesters clashed at a recent demonstration in Glasgow where one of their speakers was heckled with the chant, “Rape Apologist”. You can see what happened next here.
This is the SWP’s rather pitiful response:
The West of Scotland Anti Bedroom Tax Federation should be extremely proud of the Saturday 30th March demonstration in Glasgow. Up to 8,000 people turned out in a fantastic display of opposition to the Tory bedroom tax. The Glasgow demonstration was by far the biggest anti-bedroom tax demonstration so far and the largest independently organised working class demonstration in Glasgow since the poll tax.
The demo was built through the hard work of federation members and local people from housing schemes all across of the West of Scotland. The demo was peaceful and well stewarded, by volunteers from the federation and local groups and communities affected by the bedroom tax.
The West of Scotland Anti Bedroom Tax Federation condemns the actions of the people who tried to wreck Saturday’s rally at George Square by attempting to heckle and silence an agreed speaker.
In doing so, they upset and endangered many of the general public who wished to hear the speaker especially children and disabled activists at the front of the rally.
We further condemn their false allegations against the stewards who responded in a professional and appropriate manner to help maintain a safe environment, a peaceful rally for all demonstrators.
We condemn the posting of video clips on social media, which endangers the personal safety of those involved in trying to maintain a peaceful protest.
The West of Scotland Anti- Bedroom Tax Federation strongly believes that any place where anti-bedroom tax campaigners come together to discuss, plan and protest against the bedroom tax must be a safe space for all people, free of harassment, bullying and intimidation. It is totally unacceptable to physically threaten or verbally abuse other activists, protestors and stewards.
Any individual or group that fails to uphold these basic standards of respectful behaviour will be asked not to attend future meeting and events, in order to ensure the safety of WoS Federation members and all those in attendance
My best guess: this will continue to happen until the SWP fades away. Would you have them on YOUR demo?
Update: Sarah Higgins in the comments sheds some more light on what took place. Utterly unsurprisingly for anyone who knows anything about the way the SWP works, the West of Scotland Anti-Bedroom Tax Federation was a grassroots organization which has seen its committee infiltrated and now taken over by Swuppies and others such as the Communist Workers International and King Louis Tommy Sheridan’s outfit, Solidarity.
More can be read on the A Thousand Flowers blog, in particular reference to Dave Sherry whose appearance inspired the heckling. This approved speaker is UNITE Scottish Federation of Housing Associations as well as a member of the SWP Disputes Committee (yes, that SWP Disputes Committee).
There also is an account of the author behind the Facebook group which hosted the above statement:
One Solidarity activist, Joyce Drummond, was telling the woman making the threats that it was good on her and pointing out to her ex-SSP members she saw in the crowd as “grasses”. Drummond was formerly best known for being Tommy Sheridan’s most virulent supporter, and for being caught out in Sheridan’s perjury trial as one of the group behind a motion calling for the minutes of a Scottish Socialist Party meeting (where Sheridan admitted that he had done the things which he later denied in court) to be “destroyed” – but now she’s best known to those who have seen the above video as “that awful woman”.
Recently, Drummond was reported to have made a heartfelt apology for her work with AtOS. One commenter on the A Thousand Flowers blog observes:
Joyce Drummond is a deeply unpleasant individual, both personally and politically (and at the end of the day what’s the difference?). It makes me sick to see her try to insert herself into a position of respect in the anti-Atos movement. She was in the papers a while back as a whistle blower on Atos because she had spent a period of months working for them. Her facebook fan page she set up for herself describes her as “Support Nurse who blows whistle on Atos assessments”.
Whether you think that as someone who was not forced to work for Atos, who was not forced to be complicit in removing benefits from disabled people for such ‘signs of ability to work’ like turning up for your compulsory assessment or being able to write your own name, and who only seemed to want to be open about the nature of her time working for Atos a couple of years later when anti-Atos campaigning became a thing that newspapers were willing to talk about, is an appropriate champion of disabled people’s rights is up to you.
Personally I think she can go take a running fuck to herself for trying to make herself a cause celebre when really what she should have done after opening up about the things she did as an Atos nurse is offer a sincere apology and then slink off with her tail between her legs and keep the fuck out of the movements designed to protect the people she’s been complicit in harming.
I don’t give a shite if it was the only nursing job available to her, no one has the right to stay in a job with Atos once they know what the deal with it is, and it would become apparent immediately. Atos deliberately employ struck off doctors and the like to do their “health assessments”. Because no competent health professional would break their duty of care by actively making the health of disabled people and people with mental health problems worse. I don’t know Drummond’s background in the health profession so don’t know why she took a job at Atos but if it was the only door open to her I STILL DON’T CARE.
Drummond has reproduced this in full on her Facebook group, so I assume she accepts its republication.
The A Thousand Flowers blog also repeats comments concerning Scottish hard-left groups involvement with convicted and alleged rapists. Without knowing enough of the details behind it, I won’t name names but it can be seen on the link.
