Scottish Socialist Party

This article deals with the Scottish Socialist Party that was formed in 1998. For the party that was formed in 1987 see Scottish Socialist Party (1987-1990).

The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is a left-wing Scottish political party which campaigns for a socialist economic platform and Scottish independence.

History

The SSP was formed out of the Scottish Socialist Alliance (SSA) in 1998. The SSA had itself formed in 1996 from an alliance of various leftist groups operating in Scotland. Scottish Militant Labour (which had itself formed out of the Trotskyist Militant Tendency in the early 1990s) drove the formation of the SSA. Other participating groups included the Scottish Republican Socialist Party (SRSP) and the Communist Party of Scotland. The principal founders were Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes.

The SSA performed fairly well in the sixteen seats they contested in the 1997 general election and this prompted moves to formalise the alliance into a new political party. Again, Militant Labour served as the driving force, and in 1998 it was agreed to form the SSP.

In 1999 the SSP (in their first ever nation-wide electoral contest) polled fairly well in that year's Scottish Parliament election. They did however get fewer votes than Socialist Labour (a UK-wide party of the left led by Arthur Scargill which has consistently refused to countenance the idea of joining forces with the SSP because the SSP stand for an independent Scotland). Nonetheless the elections to the Scottish Parliament went better than many expected, with Sheridan gaining election as a representative of Glasgow.

The period since 1999 has seen sustained growth for the SSP, including a boost to membership when the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in Scotland agreed to become part of the SSP, although the decision to absorb the SWP remains controversial, and there have been rows over unpaid membership fees (the SWP pays collectively). The SWP is also a member of the Respect coalition, which is registered as a political party in Scotland but claims that this is just so no one else uses their name in Scotland. Respect MP George Galloway has stated Respect supports the SSP and does not have any plans to move into Scotland[1].

They have also picked up many former members of the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) who have become disaffected with the way in which those parties now operate. The decision of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) at its 2003 Annual Conference to allow its branches in Scotland to affiliate to the SSP if they wished led to the RMT's unprecedented expulsion from the Labour Party when a special conference in January 2004 declined to reverse the decision.

This period of growth has featured some internal disagreements, largely due to the diverse origins of the party. Major disagreement has surrounded the party policy of independence for Scotland, a central policy of the SRSM, largely accepted by Scottish Militant Labour, but opposed by the SWP and CPGB on supposedly internationalist grounds.

Platforms

The party (unlike most others) allows for the organisation of internal factions (which it describes as platforms). The SRSP has therefore become the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement and the SWP, the Socialist Workers Platform. Other platforms include the RCN, the International Socialists (affiliated with the CWI) and the Workers' Unity Platform. The International Socialist Movement was the leading faction of the SSP from its founding, including in its ranks Tommy Sheridan, Colin Fox and Alan McCombes. Originally affiliated with the CWI, it severed its ties with it in 2002. The ISM became less cohesive, particularly after Sheridan was forced to resign as SSP convenor and Fox and McCombes ran against each other to succeed him. The ISM ultimately dissolved in 2006. The amount of factionalism has created some degree of tension within the SSP.

Campaigns

The party has been active in a number of campaigns since its foundation. A private members bill by Tommy Sheridan MSP abolished the practice of warrant sales, Colin Fox MSP proposed a bill to abolish prescription charges and Francis Curran MSP led a broad campaign to provide free nutritious meals for all Scottish schoolchildren.

Additionally the SSP has been active in opposing the nuclear base at Faslane, opposing PFI deals for schools and hospitals, AND campaigning against hospital closures, particularly in Lanarkshire. The SSP has been particularly vocal in supporting industrial action by nursery nurses, firefighters and public sector workers .

The party has also been active in international issues - in particular in campaigning against the Iraq War, the stop-offs made by rendition flights at Scottish airports and protesting the G8 in 2005 at Gleneagles

Political success

The party has become the foremost left-wing force in Scottish Politics, polling significantly better than the Socialist Labour Party in the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election. Their success since formation played a major part in the formation of a Socialist Alliance in England. The Socialist Alliance had links with the SSP, but failed to make a significant electoral breakthrough south of the border, largely due to the fact that election to the British Parliament does not use proportional representation, whereas the Scottish Parliament does.

Whilst most SSP members expected to challenge the Labour Party, the SSP's electoral performance has indicated that the SNP vote has been most affected by the emergence of the SSP. It is probably Socialist Labour which has been most hurt electorally by their success. There is also some overlap with the Scottish Green Party vote.

The SSP managed to return six members to the Scottish Parliament in 2003, all of them 'regional list' MSPs rather than constituency MSPs. Not long after the election Lloyd Quinan, a former SNP MSP, defected to the SSP. They have also unsuccessfully courted Campbell Martin (independent, former SNP MSP) and Dennis Canavan (independent, former Labour MSP), but managed to gain John McAllion. At the 2003 parliament election McAllion lost his seat to Shona Robison, the SNP candidate. The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) pulled out of contesting the seat in favour of McAllion, but ironically this may have assisted his defeat. In 2006 McAllion stood for the SSP in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election of 9 February, gaining only around 500 votes and 1.6% of the vote.

Crisis

On November 11, 2004 Tommy Sheridan announced his resignation as convener of the party, citing personal reasons as being behind his decision. There were two candidates to replace him: Colin Fox, widely regarded as a favourite, and Alan McCombes. At one point it was expected that Carolyn Leckie would stand, but she supported Alan McCombes. Delegates to the SSP conference voted on February 13, 2005 and Fox was elected with 252 votes to McCombes' 154; 9 delegates abstained and 1 ballot paper was spoilt.

Sheridan sued the News of the World for defamation after it alleged he'd had an extra marital affair. As a result of his lawsuit (Sheridan v News International), the minutes of the SSP executive meeting held in November 2004 in which the party executive decided, unanimously, to ask for his resignation because of the way he sought to handle the case, were subpoenad by the newspaper. A raid was conducted on the SSP's offices in May 2006 and McCombes was jailed for 12 days for refusing to hand over the minutes to the court.

Sheridan claims that a cabal within the party's Executive Committee are out to destroy him, He told BBC Radio Scotland: "I think there have been a group of individuals in the party who tried to undermine me and my credibility because of personal spite or dislike." [2], Sheridan expanded on this statement in an open letter to party members on May 28th 2006 in which he claimed there was a long-standing slander campaign conducted against him by senior party figures and MSP's.

On 13 June 2006, in the midst of the crisis, a new platform within the SSP was announced, Scottish Socialist Party United Left. Their founding statement claims "We want our elected representatives to be wholly accountable to the party, putting the collective interests of the party before individual concerns."[3]

Other Information

The SSP distributes a weekly newspaper, the Scottish Socialist Voice.

SSP is a founding member of the European Anticapitalist Left.

The SSP has an active youth wing, Scottish Socialist Youth.

SSP MSPs

* Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland)
* Frances Curran (West of Scotland)
* Colin Fox (Lothians)
* Rosie Kane (Glasgow)
* Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland)
* Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow)

External links

*The Scottish Socialist Party's Home Page
*The SSP's weekly newspaper
*Scottish Republican Socialist Movement The SRSM is a platform within the SSP
*International Socialist Movement The International Socialist Movement is a platform within the SSP descended from Scottish Militant Labour
*Republican Communist Network The RCN is a platform within the SSP
*International Socialists The CWI is a platform within the SSP
*Industrial Workers of the World an unofficial current within the SSP
*SSP United Left a platform within the SSP
*SSP Members Open Letter