Socialists slam staff for removal

Members of a political party claim they were “forcibly removed” by over-zealous shopping centre security staff after they pitched up in Brandon Parade.

Matt Dobson and Sara Chaveinte Guzman, who lives in Wishaw, set up stall opposite McDonalds fast food restaurant on Monday, August 24 where they intended to sell copies of their party’s newspaper but were halted by security guards from Motherwell Shopping Centre.

Matt claims the centre staff were quite aggressive in telling them they weren’t welcome there.

Matt, 35, the Socialist Party’s West of Scotland organiser, said: “We were selling our paper and petitioning for a pay rise for key workers and the nationalisation of the care sector.

“Security staff arrived and we were told we had to move.

“I tried to talk to them but they said ‘there’s no discussion, it’s private property’ and they quoted me the name of the company that own the land.

“We have sold newspapers previously at this location without any interference.

“The area outside is seen as a public area so much so that a guy came across and questioned why we were being moved, saying ‘that’s not right, the shopping centre is down there, this is a public street’.

“That seemed to get them even more annoyed and they just told us we had to move.

“We were near the bollards at Merry Street but had to pack up our table.

“I was still trying to talk to them but they just pretended they couldn’t hear me.

“We politely complied but want to protest against this attack on democratic rights in public spaces in Motherwell town centre.

“We have seen both Labour and SNP campaign in the area without any interference.”

Matt was keen to highlight that party members had previously collected thousands of petition signatures campaigning against the closure of the Dalzell Steelworks.

And more recently they campaigned against cuts implemented by North Lanarkshire Council and NHS.

Matt said: “We regularly campaign in town centres across Scotland and have a legal right to do so from a table; 1m x 1m x 2 metres.

“We will be circulating our protest to all Motherwell political representatives and trade union organisations and mobilising against this ban.

“We are certain in this time of looming economic depression that the residents of Motherwell and North Lanarkshire will organise as they have a proud labour movement history against attacks on democratic rights, privatisation and cuts.”

Peter Aitken, manager of the shopping centre situated in the town’s Brandon Parade refuted Matt’s claim.

He said there was no political bias behind their removal from Brandon Parade adding: “The bottom line is they didn’t have permission to be there.

“It is private land and we recently moved buskers on as well.

“They could have asked for permission and they may or may not have been allowed there, but they didn’t ask.

“If they were on the other side of the bollards at McDonalds on Merry Street then that’s not our property and it’s a matter for the council.”