Bill Speirs (athlete)
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Bill Speirs (athlete)
William MacLeod Speirs (8 March 1952 – 23 September 2009) was a Scottish trade union leader, a socialist and internationalist. He was General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress. Speirs was a key figure in left-wing Scottish politics, chairing the Scottish council of the Labour party at the 1987 general election, and being a prominent member of various groups of the Bennite left, e.g. the Labour Co-ordinating Committee and Scottish Labour Action. Speirs was also a high-profile advocate of Scottish devolution, e.g. he was instrumental in the creation of Scotland United, was a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, and was a member of the group that drafted the key document Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right in 1995 Early life, education and work Bill Speirs was born in Dumbarton and grew up in Renfrew. He went to school at the John Neilson Institution in Paisley and took a first class honours degree in Politics as the University of Strathcl ...
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Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Strathclyde, and later the county town of Dunbartonshire. Dumbarton Castle, on top of Dumbarton Rock, dominates the area. Dumbarton was a royal burgh between 1222 and 1975. Dumbarton emerged from the 19th century as a centre for shipbuilding, glassmaking, and whisky production. However, these industries have since declined, and Dumbarton today is increasingly a commuter town for Glasgow east-southeast of it. Dumbarton F.C. is the local football club. Dumbarton is home to BBC Scotland's drama studio. History Dumbarton history goes back at least as far as the Iron Age and probably much earlier. It has been suggested that in Ancient Rom ...
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University Of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first technological university in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the historic Kingdom of Strathclyde, its combined enrollment of 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students ranks it Scotland's third-largest university, drawn with its staff from over 100 countries. The annual income of the institution for 2023–24 was £432.5 million of which £118.6 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £278.1 million. History The university was founded in 1796 through the will of John Anderson, professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. He left the majority of his estate to create a second university in Glasgow which would focus on "Useful Learning" – specializing in practical su ...
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2009 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ...
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Grahame Smith
Grahame Thomas Smith (born 8 January 1959) is a Scottish former trade unionist, who served as General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC). Education Smith attended Bishopbriggs High School, which merged into Bishopbriggs Academy, between 1971 and 1977. He is a graduate of Strathclyde University, where he obtained an Honours Degree in Economics and Industrial Relations. Honours and recognition Smith was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ..., for services to the Trade Union Movement and the Promotion of Fair Work in Scotland. References External linksAddress by Grahame Smith, STUC 9 July 2009.STUC webpage 1959 births Living people People educated ...
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Cathy Peattie
Catherine "Cathy" Peattie (born 24 November 1951, Grangemouth, Falkirk) is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Falkirk East constituency from the 1999 Scottish Parliament election until the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, when she was defeated by Angus MacDonald of the Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ... (SNP). Peattie served as chair of the Scottish Labour Party from 2019 to 2020, with her daughter Cara Hilton serving as vice-chair during her time in the office and succeeding her as chair. References External links * Cathy Peattienew site for 2011 election News from Cathy Peattiewordpress blog 1951 births Living people People from Grangemouth Labour MSPs ...
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Morning Star (British Newspaper)
The ''Morning Star'' is a left-wing British daily newspaper with a focus on social issues, social, political and trade union issues. Originally founded in 1930 as the ''Daily Worker'' by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), ownership was transferred from the CPGB to an independent consumers' co-operative, readers' co-operative, the People's Press Printing Society, in 1945 and later renamed the ''Morning Star'' in 1966. The paper describes its editorial stance as in line with ''Britain's Road to Socialism'', the programme of the Communist Party of Britain. The ''Daily Worker'' initially opposed the Second World War and its London edition was banned in Britain between 1941 and 1942. After Operation Barbarossa, the Soviet Union joined the Allies, the paper enthusiastically backed the war effort. During the Cold War, the paper provided a platform for critics of the US and its allies. This included whistleblowers who provided evidence that the British military were allowin ...
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The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its parent company, National World, also publishes the ''Edinburgh Evening News''. It had an audited print circulation of 8,762 for July to December 2022. Its website, Scotsman.com, had an average of 138,000 unique visitors a day as of 2017. The title celebrated its bicentenary on 25 January 2017. History ''The Scotsman'' was conceived in 1816 and first launched on 25 January 1817 as a liberal weekly newspaper by lawyer William Ritchie (Newspaper Editor), William Ritchie and customs official Charles Maclaren in response to the "unblushing subservience" of competing newspapers to the Edinburgh establishment. These two plus John Ramsay McCulloch were co-founders of the venture. The paper was pledged to "impartiality, firm ...
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The Herald (Glasgow)
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in 1992. Following the closure of the '' Sunday Herald'', the ''Herald on Sunday'' was launched as a Sunday edition on 9 September 2018. History Founding The newspaper was founded by an Edinburgh-born printer called John Mennons in January 1783 as a weekly publication called the ''Glasgow Advertiser''. Mennons' first edition had a global scoop: news of the treaties of Versailles reached Mennons via the Lord Provost of Glasgow just as he was putting the paper together. War had ended with the American colonies, he revealed. ''The Herald'', therefore, is as old as the United States of America, give or take an hour or two. The story was, however, only carried on the back page. Mennons, using the larger of two fonts available to him, put it in t ...
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Campaign For Socialism
Campaign for Socialism (CfS) is an autonomous political organisation of Scottish Labour Party members and supporters who campaign for left-wing policies and candidates within the party. In 2016, CfS agreed to a joint membership scheme with Momentum, a UK-wide grassroots movement supportive of Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership of the Labour Party. History CfS was originally established in 1994 to campaign against the removal of Clause IV from the Labour Party's constitution. By 2012, it was one of the only remaining ideological-based groupings in the party but Gerry Hassan and Eric Shaw, writing that year, claimed that CfS "has few members, little organisational presence and has had a negligible influence on the direction of the party". CfS played a key role in organising Neil Findlay and Katy Clark's leadership bid in the 2014 Scottish Labour leadership election. Though unsuccessful, CfS claims the campaign "built the foundations for Jeremy orbyns campaign just a few month ...
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Clause IV
Clause IV is part of the Labour Party Rule Book which sets out the aims and values of the British Labour Party. The original clause, adopted in 1918, called for common ownership of industry, and proved controversial in later years; Hugh Gaitskell attempted to remove the clause following Labour's loss in the 1959 general election. In 1995, under the leadership of Tony Blair, a new Clause IV was adopted. This was seen as a significant moment in Blair's redefinition of the party as New Labour, but has in the years since survived beyond the New Labour branding. Text The original version of Clause IV was drafted by Sidney and Beatrice Webb in November 1917, and adopted by the party in 1918. It read, in part 4: This section was widely seen as the Labour Party's commitment to socialism, even though the word "socialism" is not explicitly mentioned. '' The Manchester Guardian'' heralded it as showing "the Birth of a Socialist Party", stating that: In 1918, nationalisation was ...
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Scottish Labour Party
Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 266 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster. Throughout the later decades of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, Labour dominated politics in Scotland; winning the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election from 1964 to 2010, every European Parliament election from 1984 to 2004 and in the first two elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003. After this, Scottish Labour formed a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, forming a majority Scottish Executive. Until recently, especially since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the party suffered significant decline; losing ground pr ...
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Labour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour's values of equality and social justice. Labour Students’ main activities include providing political education and training to its members, sending activists to by-elections and marginal constituencies across the country and organising politically within the National Union of Students (United Kingdom), National Union of Students and Student unionism in the United Kingdom, Student Unions. Labour Students was disaffiliated from the Labour Party by the Party's National Executive Committee in September 2019, with the intent of replacing it with a new student organisation. Although campaigning activity continued to be organised under the Labour Students branding during the 2019 general election in the United Kingdom, 2019 general elec ...
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