JAM74 PRESS RELEASE - Beat the Bulldozers!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 25TH MARCH

JAM74 PRESS RELEASE

M74 PROTESTORS PLEDGE TO ‘BEAT THE BULLDOZERS’

Opponents of the proposed M74 Northern Extension have begun revving the engines of protest by pledging that they will ‘beat the bulldozers’.

Within hours of Transport Minister Nicol Stephen giving the green light for the road project, nearly 100 pledge cards had been signed, committing protestors to non-violent direct action, and Joint Action Against the M74 (JAM74) had begun distributing over 1000 more.

JAM74 has already been contacted by protestors from as far away as Germany and America. The ‘beat the bulldozer’ pledge cards will be handed out at the G8 protests in July in order to recruit more protestors to help tackle the global problem of climate change.

Will Jess, chair of JAM74, said that the signing of pledge cards is the first step in a highly-orchestrated campaign which will bring maximum disruption to construction of the motorway.

Mr Jess said, “The Scottish Executive have shown complete disregard for the public’s opinion. The level of opposition to this road is immense and people are very angry that the Executive choose to ignore the findings of their own inquiry. Already I have been contacted by a number people looking to find out what they can do to prevent the motorway going ahead. As well as taking legal action against the Minister’s decision, JAM74 is planning a rigorous campaign of non-violent direct action.”

Patrick Harvie, Green for MSP Glasgow, said that the scale of the protests will cause severe embarrassment to the Executive. He said, “If ministers think opposition to this road will simply die out, they are grossly mistaken. Their decision to press ahead with the motorway marked the beginning of a new, direct campaign by protestors. The signing of these pledge cards by protestors shows that we’re in this for the long haul.”

Yesterday the Liberal Democrat Minister Nicol Stephen recommended approval for the controversial M74 Northern Extension despite the public inquiry report recommending that the road should not go ahead. The report contained damning criticism of the project and stated that the motorway would not have the economic, congestion and employment benefits claimed by the Executive during the public inquiry.

JAM74 are now encouraging hundreds of people who objected to the motorway to fill in ‘beat the bulldozers’ pledge cards. Local residents, national activists and members of the Scottish Green and Scottish Socialist Parties have already pledged themselves to direct action. It is expected that the campaign to disrupt construction of the road will grow and intensify over the coming months.

ENDS

For more information contact Will Jess, Chair of JAM74 on 07773 771 319 or Fiona Barnes, Parliamentary Assistant to Patrick Harvie MSP on 07962 042474.

NEWS RELEASE - Ministers ignore Parliament

GREEN MSP MEDIA RELEASE

For immediate release 23rd March 2005

EXECUTIVE FACES FRESH CHALLENGE ON ‘BIG BROTHER’ PROGRAMME

Greens said today that the Executive is ignoring the will of the Scottish Parliament and accused Ministers of stalling in the hope that parliament’s demand for a statement on plans for ID cards and a national identity database will simply go away. The Greens have resubmitted their demand that a statement is made, and are appealing for the same cross party support that saw the Executive defeated on ID cards previously. (1)

The Executive suffered a humiliating defeat last month when a Green demand for a statement on the proposed use of an Identity Database in Scotland was supported by Parliament. However no statement has so far been forthcoming, despite repeated requests.

Patrick Harvie MSP said: “In ignoring Parliament’s clear demand for a statement, Ministers are undermining democracy and the status of the Parliament. It may suit the Executive to ignore Parliament, but their failure to respond is damaging to devolution and public confidence in our democracy. The Executive has had a month to respond already - how much longer is Parliament expected to wait?”

Mr Harvie also highlighted a London School of Economics report into the ‘Identity Project’ which has slammed the government’s plans on the grounds that they are “too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and confidence” as well as possibly contravening the European Convention on Human Rights. (2)

Harvie added: “This new report spells it out pretty clearly - we are dealing with a scheme that is flawed at nearly every turn. If the Executive is not prepared to make a statement very soon, Ministers will face a pretty hefty political backlash. Even if the Libdems abstain again, the rest of the parties are united in their opposition and are determined to defeat the identity card project in Scotland.”

For further information contact the Green MSP Press Office on 0790 99 33 074

Notes

1. Motion placed before parliament today:
* S2M-2643 Patrick Harvie: London School of Economics Study: The Identity Project—That the Parliament notes the findings in a recent comprehensive study by the London School of Economics (LSE), The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill, that involved more than 100 academics and outside experts in the fields of law, technology, information systems, government policy, business, economics and security; is concerned that the authors of the study have concluded that the proposals for an identity card and database scheme are “too complex, technically unsafe, overly prescriptive and lack a foundation of public trust and confidence”; further notes that the report has warned that, rather than increasing UK security, the Bill may create greater security dangers than before as well as contravene the European Convention on Human Rights and exceed current cost projections; agrees with the main conclusion of the LSE study that the current identity card legislation must be abandoned, and calls on the Scottish Executive to comply with the terms of motion S2M-2463 by giving a full statement to Parliament on the intended use of the identity database by devolved institutions.

2. The LSE ‘Identity Project’ report can be found here.