Richie Venton

A former Militant organiser and a founding member of the SSP,[4] he was a high-profile activist in the Scottish independence referendum campaign and spoke at a number of public meetings and debates.

"[7] In Downfall, Alan McCombes writes: "Richie Venton, a dynamic Irishman originally from Fermanagh, who had been a Militant organiser in Liverpool during the Derek Hatton era, came up to Scotland to assist the Pollok general election campaign [in 1992] — and never went back.

In March 2014, Venton faced Richard Leonard, then the GMB's political officer, in a debate on the subject of Scottish independence hosted by the union's nationwide Skills Development Scotland branch at their AGM.

[17] In September 2014, Venton spoke at another referendum debate organised by the Usdaw branch at IKEA, Glasgow, after which a straw poll found no members present backing the No side.

[20] In a piece for the Scottish Socialist Voice, Venton called on the Scottish Government and local councillors to refuse to pass on Westminster cuts, instead setting "No Cuts Defiance budgets" and then linking up with council workers' unions and community user groups in a massive campaign to demand extra funds from Westminster to balance the books.

On his aim in writing the book, he said he wanted "to answer the doubters and critics with hard facts and arguments that would help equip those willing to fight for decent living conditions for the working class majority".