Saturday, January 28, 2017

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News


Talking about money and men

Posted: 27 Jan 2017 09:54 AM PST

talk, men and money,, money is a feminist issue, Ellie Mae O'Hagan, Ann PettiforFor money is a feminist issue.

Money makes the world go round: but what is it really? And how is it produced? Above all, who controls its production, and in whose interests? Money is never a neutral medium of exchange.

Political economist Ann Pettifor and journalist Ellie Mae O'Hagan will be discussing history's most misunderstood invention: the money system – and a system that is dominated by men – on 16 February.

While women are largely responsible for managing household budgets, they have on the whole been excluded from managing the nation's financial system and its budgets.

And at present the networks that dominate the financial sector are overwhelmingly male, and often shockingly sexist.

Their dismissive attitude towards half the population and their enjoyment of an unequal distribution of knowledge are not coincidental.

The creation and management of society's money does not currently loom large in contemporary feminism. But it is a feminist issue, and it is central to the liberation of women from the servitude of unpaid work.

Pettifor is a political economist, perhaps best known for correctly predicting the Global Financial Crises in several publications including 'Coming soon: The new poor' and 'The coming first world debt crisis' and for leading the international movement for the cancellation of debts, Jubilee 2000.

In her new, ‘accessible, brilliantly argued’ book, 'The Production of Money: How to Break the Power of the Bankers' Pettifor explains in straightforward terms history's most misunderstood invention: the money system.

Money: what is it really? And how is it produced? Above all, who controls its production, and in whose interests?

Money is never a neutral medium of exchange. Nor are bankers simply go-betweens for savers and borrowers.

Pettifor argues that democracies can reclaim control over money production and subordinate the out-of-control finance sector to the interests of society, and also the ecosystem.

She also examines and assesses popular alternative debates on, and innovations in, money: positive money, helicopter money and the rise of goldbugs.

And she sets out the possibility of linking the money in our pockets (or on our smartphones) to the change we want to see in the world around us.

‘The Production of Money: How to Break the Power of the Bankers’ will be published by Verso Books on 7 February.

Ellie Mae O’Hagan, the co-founder of the Words by Women Awards, is an editor at openDemocracy, and writes for the Guardian, the New York Times, the Independent and the Times, among others, and has appeared on Woman’s Hour, Newsnight and Channel 4 News.

Tickets for ‘Money is a Feminist Issue: Ann Pettifor and Ellie Mae O’Hagan’, which is being held at the London Review Bookshop at 7pm on 16 February 2017, are available here.

Labour, Brexit and women’s rights

Posted: 27 Jan 2017 09:41 AM PST

Brexit, Article 50 Legislation, Labour, Melanie Onn, amendments, workers' rightsThe Article 50 Bill: the start, not the end, of the Brexit process.

Theresa May has now published Article 50 legislation – the Bill to start the UK’s disentanglement from the European Union – in preparation for MPs’ votes.

MPs have been given just five days to debate it – and try to amend it.

The Bill, which is only eight lines long and contains just 130 words, was published this week after the Supreme Court ruled that MPs and peers must give their consent to invoking Article 50.

The government aims for the Bill to have cleared the House of Lords by early March.

Labour has tabled a number of targeted amendments to the Article 50 Bill (the European Union [Notification of Withdrawal] Bill).

Their amendments seek to improve the Brexit process, and ensure Parliament is able to hold the government to account throughout the negotiations.

Labour is also tabling an anti-tax haven amendment to ensure the Prime Minister does not use Brexit to weaken Britain's laws concerning tax avoidance and evasion.

Labour will also support two amendments drafted by Melanie Onn MP which aim to protect workers' rights and ensure there is no drop in employment protection after the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

Labour has said the amendments will:

i) Allow a meaningful vote in Parliament on the final Brexit deal. Labour's amendment would ensure that the House of Commons has the first say on any proposed deal and that the consent of Parliament would be required before the deal is referred to the European Council and Parliament.

ii) Establish a number of key principles the government must seek to negotiate during the process, including protecting workers' rights, securing full tariff and impediment free access to the Single Market.

iii) Ensure there is robust and regular Parliamentary scrutiny by requiring the Secretary of State to report to the House at least every two months on the progress being made on negotiations throughout the Brexit process.

iv) Guarantee legal rights for EU nationals living in the UK. Labour has repeatedly called for the government to take this step, and this amendment would ensure EU citizens' rights are not part of the Brexit negotiations.

v) Require the government to consult regularly with the governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout Brexit negotiations. Labour's amendment would put the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) on a statutory footing and require the UK government to consult the JMC at least every two months.

vi) Require the government to publish impact assessments conducted since the referendum of any new proposed trading relationship with the EU. This amendment seeks to ensure there is much greater clarity on the likely impact of the government's decision to exit the Single Market and seek a new relationship with the Customs Union.

vii) Ensure the government must seek to retain all existing EU tax avoidance and evasion measures post-Brexit.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party, said: "Labour will seek to amend the Article 50 Bill to prevent the government using Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven off the coast of Europe. Our country can do much better than that.

"We respect the will of the British people, but not the will of this Tory government to impose fewer rights at work and worse public services, while the largest corporations pay even less tax.

"Labour will ensure that the British people, through Parliament, have genuine accountability and oversight over the Brexit negotiations because no one voted to give Prime Minister Theresa May a free hand over our future."

The Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, Keir Starmer, said: "Now that Parliament has the right to trigger Article 50, we need to ensure there is proper grip and accountability built into the process.

"Labour's amendments will also seek to ensure the Prime Minister secures the best deal for the whole country – including tariff and impediment free access to the Single Market and that there is no drop in workers' rights.

"Labour's amendments will significantly improve the government's Bill – in particular by ensuring the House of Commons has the first say on the final Brexit deal and that there are regular opportunities to hold the government to account.

"Labour's amendments will also seek to ensure the Prime Minister secures the best deal for the whole country – including tariff and impediment free access to the Single Market and that there is no drop in workers' rights.

“We will also vigorously oppose any plans to reduce powers to tackle tax avoidance or evasion.

"The Article 50 Bill will be the start, not the end, of the Brexit process and Labour will hold the government to account all the way."

And Melanie Onn MP, who has tabled two amendments, with Frontbench support, on workers' rights, said: "The Tories can't be allowed to use Brexit as an excuse to water-down people's rights at work.

"That's why I am introducing amendments to protect in British law all workers' rights which originate from the EU, including maternity pay, equal rights for agency and part-time workers, and the working time directive."

Friday, January 27, 2017

Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News


High heels and short skirts: for work not leisure

Posted: 26 Jan 2017 01:34 PM PST

high heels at work, committees report, unlawful dress codes, Nicola Thorp, petitionWomen, clothing, work and pain – and glaring double standards.

The Petitions Committee and the Women and Equalities Committee published a report on women, high heels and workplace dress codes recently.

The inquiry that lead to this report was triggered by a petition started by Nicola Thorp, after she was sent home from work, without pay, for refusing to wear high heels.

And although the government has said that the dress code imposed on Nicola Thorp was unlawful the Committees heard that requirements for women to wear high heels and other forms of discriminatory dress codes at work remain widespread.

'Other forms' included women being told to undo top buttons, wear make-up, wear short skirts…

The report concluded that the Equality Act 2010 is not yet fully effective in protecting workers from discrimination, and has called for the government to take urgent action to improve the effectiveness of the Equality Act.

It also recommends that the government reviews this area of the law and, if necessary, asks Parliament to amend it.

And it calls for more effective remedies – such as increased financial penalties – for employment tribunals to award against employers who breach the law, in order to provide an effective deterrent.

This particular response though has come under fire, with TUC General Secretary Francis O'Grady voicing what the rest of us feel: "But with employment tribunals costing up to £1,200, even if you're on the minimum wage, many women can't afford to challenge sexist policies."

And adding, to make the point clear: "If ministers are serious about enforcing equality legislation then they should scrap tribunal fees immediately."

The Committees' report also recommends that the government introduce guidance and awareness campaigns targeted at employers, workers and students, to improve understanding of the law and workers’ rights.

Kind of assuming that employers don't know what they are asking women to do.

The report included remarks on the health impact of wearing high heels, including medical evidence, which concluded that ‘Dress codes which require women to wear high heels for extended periods of time are damaging to their health and wellbeing in both the short and the long term’ and non-compliance with the existing law; and that ‘The Equality Act is clear in principle in setting out what constitutes discrimination in law. Nevertheless, discriminatory dress codes remain commonplace in some sectors of the economy’.

And ‘It is clear that many employees do not feel able to challenge the dress codes they are required to follow, even when they suspect that they may be unlawful’.

Maria Miller MP, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, said: “This inquiry reinforces the point that many employers do not see it as a priority to be aware of their legal obligations in this area and in practice individual employees are not in a position to take action to ensure their employers comply with the law.

"Whilst the level of tribunal fees is one factor, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission [EHRC] also needs to find new ways to make the law bite.

"Employers appear to risk non-compliance because the likelihood of any serious consequences are minimal.

"The EHRC must find new ways to support anti-discrimination test cases and appeals, so that the burden does not fall too heavily on individual women – especially those who already feel their employment position is precarious.”

The petition set up by Nicola Thorp to  make it illegal for a company to require women to wear high heels at work now has over 152,000 signatures, and will be debated in Parliament on 6 March.

Helen Jones MP, chair of the Petitions Committee, said: “It’s not enough for the law to be clear in principle – it must also work in practice.

"The government has said that the way that Nicola Thorp was treated by her employer is against the law, but that didn't stop her being sent home from work without pay.

"It's clear from the stories we've heard from members of the public that Nicola's story is far from unique.

"The government must now accept that it has a responsibility to ensure that the law works in practice as well as in theory.

"By accepting our recommendations, the government could help employers and employees alike to avoid unlawful discrimination.”

To read the report's conclusions and recommendations, click here.

To read the full report click here.

And as Chloe Hamilton, writing for iNews, in an article with the headline ‘Short skirts: professional in the workplace, provocative in the club’, pointed out, we have a glaring double standard here.

'A woman who wears a short skirt and high heels on a night out is asking to be raped. But if the same woman wears a short skirt and high heels to a meeting, she's abiding by society's dress code.

'What would happen, I wonder, if this fictional woman was sexually assaulted as she walked home from work in the skirt and high heels that were deemed appropriate for a board meeting?’

Or any kind of work.

'Where,’ Hamilton continued, ‘would people like [Sky News presenter Stephen] Dixon [who suggested recently that drunk women wearing short skirts should take partial responsibility for sexual assault] lay their urgent, feverish blame then? At the door of her company for insisting on a sexualised dress code? At the feet of her attacker who was "provoked" by the sight of a woman's figure? Or with her?'

Three guesses. But yes.

New childcare loan scheme in London starts

Posted: 26 Jan 2017 01:04 PM PST

Sadiq Khan, childcare scheme, deposit loan, single parents, GingerbreadMayor makes first move – and urges employers to make childcare more accessible too.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has called on employers across the capital to help make childcare more accessible for working families.

Figures repeatedly show parents are being ‘locked out of the workplace’ by rising costs and expensive upfront deposits for nursery places.

Childcare in London currently costs 34 per cent more than the national average, and 90 per cent of providers of childcare charge an upfront deposit of up to £1,500.

The soaring cost of childcare in the capital is preventing parents from starting a new job or returning to work; on average, single parents in London spend roughly half their take-home pay on a nursery place.

London families also need more hours of childcare than the rest of the country because of longer commutes, and pay an average of £2,200 more per year in childcare fees than families outside the capital.

Sadiq Khan made this call to employers as he welcomed the introduction of a new childcare deposit loan across all organisations in the Greater London Authority (GLA) 'family', giving parents a helping hand to get back to work.

The introduction of an interest-free loan scheme will give all parents in the GLA group – including Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade – the funds they need to cover the up-front costs of childcare provision.

This is the Mayor's first step towards his manifesto commitment to make childcare more accessible and affordable in the capital, given, as he recognises, that the cost, quality and availability of childcare are serious challenges for London's families and businesses.

Together with single-parent charity Gingerbread, who came up with the proposal as a way to support parents so they can return to the workforce, the Mayor is urging other businesses and organisations across London to follow suit and offer the same scheme to their employees.

Sadiq Khan said: "London is a city of opportunity for all, and it is unacceptable that parents are being locked out of the workplace because of crippling childcare costs.

"I'm pleased that we have been able to introduce a childcare deposit loan across the GLA, giving working families a helping hand, but we need more of the capital's employers to follow our lead.

"I've pledged to work with employers to make childcare more affordable and accessible, with a strategy that delivers for business and workers across London.

"The benefits of accessible, good quality childcare are clear all round – parents will be able to return to work, children will have more access to quality early years education,  and employers will be able to reap the benefits of having skilled and eager parents back in the workplace."

Childcare costs are a major driver of London's low maternal employment rates, which are 10 per cent lower in the capital than the national average, and 40 per cent of mothers who are unemployed have said that childcare is a key barrier to getting a job.

Only 46 per cent of two year-olds in the capital in government funded childcare places, compared with 55 per cent nationally.

Costs which also mean that too many London children are not able to access quality early education, which could in turn help them make a strong start at school.

Dalia Ben-Galim, the Policy Director at Gingerbread, said: "A childcare deposit scheme should be as commonplace and easy to access as cycle to work schemes or season ticket loans and we look forward to working with the Mayor to see this happen for all parents across the capital."

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Hard copy, IOS and Android - read and enjoy ðŸ˜Ž

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Welcome to Casino Life


Let me start by saying a big thanks to Per Jaldung, ECA Chairman, who starts our year as guest editor. In a busy time of year it's reassuring that he took the time to give us his thoughts. The ECA at one point seemed to have stalled but in recent times has become more active and now represents over 900 casinos in Europe.
 
Something that has stagnated is our competition - who continue to peddle news as editorial content when it's a month old.  This tired approach seems to work like the story of the Emperors New Clothes but if I was a manufacturer CEO (or a shareholder perhaps) I'd be questioning the benefit and why marketing spend year-on-year goes to the same old faces. At times it's like the commercial manager of the local rugby club advertising his wife's marketing company in the match programme.    
 
And so to this issue where we start with a visit to the Tigre de casino in Vladivostock where income has exceeded expectations – the casino continues to outpace similar venues in Macau mainly due to the impact of local players and favourable taxation allowing greater margins to be paid to junketeers. That said promises of fee visas for the Primorsy Kriy need to come true or other casinos in the region will be in a position to catch up.
 
Over to Cairo next and I dropped in to see Scott Cowan MD at Intercasinos Management – part of the Caesars empire. Many thanks to Scott and his team for their hospitality – I enjoyed our lengthy tour and catch-up long into the evening.
 
Tracy Damestani CEO of the NCF next giving a very robust view of the future of the casino industry in the UK despite the implications of Brexit. It could be argued that now Britain is making it's own way in the world there is no better time to revisit the 2005 Gambling Act and (Daily Mail willing) do now what should have been done then to make the UK ahead of the game globally.
 
G2E may be a distant memory but Victor Royer is still excited by some of what he saw and is reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly. Space in December was at a premium so this feature is slightly delayed but as manufacturers spend fortunes to be there it's worth inclusion.
 
Robert Ambrose brings us up to speed on Gambling moves in New Jersey and pulls out every pun in the book as he refers to the Trojan Horse racing element.
 
Finally – a quick runaround some of what you'll see at ICE in a few weeks and in four months time in other magazines. If you're at ICE you are as always very welcome to drop in and see us on our booths: ND6-C ND6-D

OK - off to Leeds for the opening of the Victoria Gate Casino...


Glyn Thomas
Editor in Chief

glyn@ace123.com

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Women's Views on News

Women's Views on News


Open letter: pro sex work is pro pimps

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:31 PM PST

sex trade suvivors, open letter, March on Washington organisers, pimps, women's rightsAn open letter from sex trade survivors to the organizers of the Washington Women's March.

We, the undersigned, are survivors of the sex trade from many nations, including the United States.

We are survivor leaders, activists and advocates.

Many of us are direct service providers, working on the front lines of this issue to help people survive the sex trade and to support them in their difficult efforts to leave, should they be ready to do so.

Through our combined lived experiences, we know the sex trade to be an arena where women are regarded as non-human commodities and used and traded accordingly.

Everything we have personally witnessed, including in the lives of the adults and youth who we serve, has revealed to us that the majority of those within the sex trade are female and are disproportionately of color, in poverty, are educationally disadvantaged and hail almost always from the most marginalized groups in society.

The Women's March and its supporters are being hoodwinked into listening to the minority of those who report neutral experiences within the sex trade and are being tricked into believing that to be "pro-sex work" is a human rights approach.

This is not, in fact, a human rights approach, but rather an approach which perpetuates the status quo of women as commodified goods; i.e. men's property.

It is a thoroughly anti-feminist stance.

The Women's March was followed internationally with sister marches springing up as close as Vancouver, BC and as far away as London, England.

The world looked to you for guidance and you led them astray. In your ignorance of this political issue you do not realize that "sex workers' rights" are synonymous with "pimps' rights".

It is very apparent that you don't know the so-called movement you're supporting consider pimps 'sex workers' too. Don't believe us? — We couldn't blame you. It is thoroughly incredible. — So go and ask them.

The movement you're supporting will be happy to tell you that pimps are 'managers' and that since they facilitate "sex work" they're "sex workers" too!

Ultimately what you are doing is playing into the hands of male supremacy by providing a platform for those who benefit from prostitution (sex buyers, pimps, traffickers etc) and ignoring and erasing the sex trade survivors' movement, which exists to put an end to the wholesale dehumanization of women and girls in the global sex trade.

We urge those drafting the Women's March policy position to educate themselves, to alter their stance on this issue, to disavow the sex trade, and to move toward a position which puts the voices of sex trade survivors front and center.

We ask this in our own names, as women who survived, and in the names of those who tried to survive.

Alexandra (Sandi) Pierce; Alisa Louise Bernard; Amber Richardson; Amy Andrews-Gray; Amy Smith; Angie Conn; Anna Rodriguez; April Chabot; Apryl Green; arianna di vitto; Autumn Burris; Barbara Amaya; BllliJo House; Bridget Perrier; Brittany Meyer; Cherie Jimenez; Cheryl Angle; Chong Kim; Christine Stark; Corina Hernandez; Daniell Read; Delores Day; Dina S.; Dr Lesley Semmens; Elizabeth Beckman; Elizabeth Gordon; Elle Snow; Emily Cooper; Erica Napier; Erin Graham; Erin Sweeney; Fiona Broadfoot; Hazel Fasthorse; Huschke Mau; Isabel Suarez; J Anderson; J c d; Jacqueline Homan; Jaimee; Jane Douglas; Jane Wolfe; Janet Cotgrave; Jasmine Grace Marino; Jeanette Westbrook; Jeri Moomaw; Jess Bear; Jessica Bahr; Jessica Silverman; Jewell Baraka; Jill Brogdon; Julia Anderson; Julka; Karen; Karen Cayer; Kathi Hardy; Kathy Bryan; Kristy Childs; Laurin Crosson; Lia Patris; Lierre Keith; Linda Oluoch; Mari íngeles Suíçrez; Marian Hatcher; Marie Merklinger; Marin Stewart; Marissa Kokkoros; Marjorie Saylor; Marti MacGibbon; Megan Lundstrom; Melanie Thompson; Michael Lovan; Monica Vida; Nancy Johnson; Ne'cole Daniels; Nic Van Dyke; Nicole Tynan; Noel Gomez; Pamela Rubin; Rachel Moran; Rae Story; Rebecca Bender; Rebecca Mott; Robert Frederick; Robin Miller; Robyn Bourgeois; Rosen Hicher; Sabrinna Valisce; Sarah B. F.; Shanna Parker; Sherri Erickson; Sierra Harris; Simone Watson; Spider Redgold; Tanja Rahm; Tess; Tessa Anne; Tom Jones; Trisha Baptie; Vednita Carter; Wendy Barnes; Windie Lazenko; Yohanna Ramirez.

Comic to help tackle disability hate crime

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:17 PM PST

tackling disability hate crime, comic, Dundee, comic clubbersA comic aiming to tackle disability hate crime has been launched at an event in Dundee.

The comic, ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’, demonstrates examples of disability hate crime, and then gives advice on what you can do if you see someone experiencing it.

This includes things you can do as well as reporting what happened to the police and using Keep Safe places.

The comic was created by artists and Comics Clubbers at Dundee Comics Creative Space (DCCS) in collaboration with a group from Advocating Together Dundee and the Dundee Safe Place initiative.

Dundee Comics Creative Space is a social enterprise and studio project developed by the University of Dundee in collaboration with The Rank Foundation, a grant-giving charitable trust, and the Dundee Place Partnership Scheme, a series of initiatives and projects aiming to encourage creativity in communities in Dundee.

The aim is to provide educational workshops and creative opportunities for various age groups – mainly secondary school age but also primary 6 and 7 – and to encourage creative learning through comics.

A team of facilitators work in the space and with young comics creators in the community, and welcome anyone with an interest in comics.

Keep Safe is an initiative developed in partnership with Police Scotland and I Am Me Scotland to help elderly, disabled and vulnerable people feel safe within their community.

It identifies suitable premises within the community that can become a safe place for someone who may feel threatened or vulnerable.

Such premises are identified by displaying the 'Keep Safe/ I Am Me' window sticker. If you feel lost, scared or vulnerable when out in the community, you can go in to a Keep Safe place for assistance.

Dundee is not only the home of Dundee Comics Creative Space, there is also the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies and the comics and anime festival Dee-Con.

And Dundee University's Masters in Comics and Graphic Novels is the only course of its kind in the UK. Dundee is also one of only a handful of institutions in the world offering the opportunity to study comics at postgraduate level.

The journal Studies in Comics is edited from within the course, and the University archive and museum service have been steadily building up a collection of original artworks by comics artists and cartoonists from the late 19th century up to today. The University also has its very own imprint, UniVerse, which publishes students’ work.

Representatives from DCCS, Advocating Together, The Rank Foundation, Police Scotland, and invited guests were at the launch of the ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’ comic, an event which marked the culmination of the months of work that went into producing the comic.

You can download a copy of the ‘Tackling Disability Hate Crime’ comic by clicking here.

Broaden the spy-cops inquiry

Posted: 25 Jan 2017 02:05 PM PST

police spies, open the files, statement, broader enquiry neededThe activities of the Metropolitan Police's spies in other countries are excluded.

Four women deceived into relationships with undercover police officers have made a joint statement criticising the new Scottish review into undercover policing, and demanding a full Public Inquiry into the undercover policing in Scotland.

Full statement from the four women:

"One of the major concerns we have about the scope of the Inquiry into Undercover Policing is that the terms of reference are currently limited it to operations conducted by the police forces of England and Wales. It is very concerning that the activities of the Metropolitan Police's spies whilst in other countries are excluded.

As women who had relationships with undercover officers, we spent time abroad with these men, whom we believed to be a friend and close partner.

We know that Mark Kennedy's major operations involved G8 summits in Scotland and Germany, and it would make a mockery of the inquiry if these events were to be left out of its scope.

Mark Kennedy spent further time with his partners, "Lisa" and Kate, attending protests and meetings in Ireland, Spain, France, Denmark, Iceland and Italy, he also spent time every year of his deployment on holiday with "Lisa" and friends in Scotland.

Carlo Neri spent time with his partner, "Andrea", in Scotland and Italy.

Mark Jenner spent time with his partner, "Alison" in Ireland, and Scotland.

On all of those visits abroad, the men were being paid by the Police, using the characters created within the undercover units, working with activists from the UK in these countries, continuing their deceitful relationships with us wherever they went.  Therefore it would allow police to cover up whole chapters of outrageous behaviour if the investigations into their conduct did not include their activities in these countries.

The review into Undercover Policing set up by HMICS [HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland] in Scotland is an insult to those of us who were spied on there.

It is the Police investigating the police, with the people affected by undercover policing being given no voice. Our experience would lead us to expect a cover up. HMICS is staffed with ex-police, some of whom will return to policing with the force they are examining, and some of whom actually have links to undercover policing in Scotland.

It is also limited to events from 2000. Those of us who were spied on in Scotland before that date will not even be included.

We call for a full Public Inquiry to get to the truth of what happened in Scotland, and in all the countries these undercover officers operated in.

We call for everyone who was spied on to be given access to the police files held on them in all of these countries.

These units were political policing units, akin to the Stasi of East Germany. They must be closed, and held accountable for their actions."

Signed: 'Andrea', 'Alison', 'Lisa' and Kate Wilson.