CLYDE HERO RALLY IS HIT BY RED TAPE
Organisers want to mark Maclean march
A RALLY to mark 100 years since Red Clydeside hero John Maclean was released from prison has been hit by a red tape row.
Organisers of a march to honour the revolutionary Scot’s 1918 homecoming to Glasgow from Peterhead Prison claim delays by Glasgow City Council are hampering the event.
Marxist Maclean helped win a 1915 rent strike and campaigned relentlessly against World War I. In May 1918, he was jailed for sedition, which carried the threat of the death penalty.
During his seven months in Peterhead, the world’s most famous political prisoner was put to hard labour and force fed.
He was released on December 3, weeks after the Armistice brought fighting to an end in the war by a government who feared a mass uprising to mirror those in Dublin, Berlin and Petrograd.
Organisers of the John Maclean 100 March aim to reenact the walk back into Glasgow he shared with thousands of workers.
But Alan Smart, who made the application for the commemoration to the council, accused them of putting layers of red tape in the way.
He said: “They have done nothing to adequately commemorate a historic day. They are making it very difficult for us to do anything either.”
Alan said he was asked to attend a third meeting on Wednesday to discuss the march, which would give organisers only a few days before the centenary next Monday afternoon.
Glasgow City Council insisted it was “quite normal” to have follow-up meetings to discuss commemorative events.