Some of you (particularly those who have accessed my PRsocialism discussion forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRsocialism or my Revolutionary Platform Network forum at www.revolutionaryplatform.net/forum on which Peter Dow has kindly relayed messages I have sent from hospital) will be aware that I have been incarcerated as a political prisoner in recent times.

 

My first period in hospital occurred after the 1998 European School of the CWI, which links the Socialist Party (formerly Militant) to similar organisations around the world. At that time, the leadership of Scottish Militant Labour were proposing the formation of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), in opposition to the British and international leadership. The proposal was supported overwhelmingly in Scotland and perhaps even unanimously in France (whose leader Murray Smith was the only member of the CWI's International Secretariat to visit Scotland during the debate). However, at that event - the best opportunity for rank-and-file members of CWI sections to discuss amongst ourselves - I was the only speaker from England or Wales to speak in support of the Scots. [Somebody from London also wanted to speak in their support, but he thought that I had more interesting things to say.] A draft of the most important part of my speech, on prospects for a revival of left reformism, is on my socialist website at: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk/left-reformism-prospects.htm.

 

At that event, I became a paritcularly important person in the history of the world, and I have faced persecution as a political prisoner. Some of that experience is relayed in a piece of musical poetry I put on the internet yesterday - called "I Walk The Earth" (for a list of 20 tracks I have performed, available as WMA or MP3 files for listening to, and with lyrics available, go to http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk/poetry.htm).

 

I recently came across a supposed SSP member called Jo/Joanne Simpson, and wrote a song "Prisoners Political" about her, thinking that she was also a political prisoner, despite supposedly hearing voices. Many things she has said do not ring true and are inconsistent with each other. For example, it is hard to believe that somebody with seven grade As at highers (the Scottish equivalent of A-levels) taken two years early and joined the army, became trained as a sniper despite being openly "the only pacifist in the British army" and serving twice as a chef in Northern Ireland, spends so much time watching dross on ABC1 and Channel 5. However, it took my conscious mind until last night to completely eliminate the possibility that she is genuine (and a white gay female Muslim with dreadlocks who had converted from Catholicism several months ago could seem quite a formidable asset!) I finally realised that it was obviously her who informed staff that I would be going AWOL to the anti-war/anti-Trident demo on the 4th of March (so they had somebody waiting for me at an entrance to the hospital grounds, who was conveniently, due to conspiracies operating largely in my favour, middle aged and female as well as uninclined to try to run after me) and that I would be in George Square in the centre of Glasgow for the demo. I did think that they could have guessed due to publicity about the demo being on, but it was convenient to believe with my conscious mind that Jo really may have been genuine after all...

 

I told Jo yesterday that I am now AWOL in Stirling, a town fairly near but not too near Glasgow. There are a lot of spies about, so there is not much to be lost from saying that. I also told her that I would be going to the Independence First march in Edinburgh tomorrow (assemble 12.30pm, East Market Street, off North Bridge, which goes down one side of Edinburgh Waverley train station) in favour of Scottish independence. For details of why I support Scottish independence, mainly as a step towards achieving socialism but also to enable Scotland to become nuclear-free and stop sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, go to my Foundation for PR-based Socialism website: www.PRsocialism.org.

 

I will not be sending messages about my personal mental health situation far and wide in general (this message is an exception). You can read more about it on the Disability & Mental Health page of my socialist website: http://www.socialiststeve.me.uk/disability-mental-health.htm or get up-to-date information on the Foundation for PR-based Socialism forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PRsocialism.