Sheridan's full statement

The Future of Socialism in Scotland
Comrades and friends,

I'd like to make a short contribution to the debate now raging about the future 
of organised socialism in Scotland.

We came very far in a short period of time with the SSP, but that party may 
have reached its historical limits. The ULN faction has come to dominate key 
positions out of all proportion to its weight in the SSP and has abused our 
democratic structures. Individuals within that faction have ignored the will of 
the National Council. They have crossed the class divide in siding with the 
NOTW against a socialist and, consequently, have turned the party we have built 
together into a colossal train wreck. They have tarnished the SSP banner - 
perhaps beyond all repair.

At meetings with comrades individually and collectively over the last few days 
I have raised the following points for consideration, which I would now like to 
raise with you - the 360 signatories to the SSP Majority. 

I have no doubt we could recapture the party apparatus and leadership at our 
conference in October - but we must ask ourselves what would be we be 
recapturing? The ULN will remain a constant thorn in our side, its extreme 
gender politics, fixation with personalities and infantile ultra leftism 
dragging the name of the party through the mud. Its obsession with rewriting 
the verdict of my defamation trial would continue to be a stone weight around 
our necks.

The policy and press co-ordinator of our party, Alan McCombes, declared in the 
Herald last week that the EC is now "at war" with me. I thought the only war we 
were interested in conducting was the class war against injustice and 
inequality.

Do we really wish to spend our energies and talents fighting an incessant 
internal struggle with these people for the next two months and beyond, without 
an end in sight? Or would it perhaps be better to make a clean break and begin 
anew, with a fresh, untarnished vehicle for socialist politics in Scotland? Is 
the best use of our time fighting an internal enemy while thousands of people 
out there in the real world want to build on the victory over Murdoch?

Would we not perhaps be better to take the best of our number - the trade 
unionists, members and branches who have stood united around principled 
socialist politics - and build a new party of the Scottish left that would be 
the kind of broad, open, campaigning party working people and their families 
can once again believe in?

I have in mind a new movement that would continue the battle for the vision we 
all hold dear - of an independent socialist Scotland free from poverty and 
want, of internationalism, of freedom from environmental destruction, of 
opposition to Bush and Blair's imperialist wars - but bigger, bolder and better 
than anything that has gone before.

I raise these questions with you in the most serious manner and ask that you 
ponder over them over the next few days and weeks. I hope you will come to the 
All-Scotland meeting called by Rosemary and myself and have your say on these 
issues. The meeting will be held at: The Central Station Hotel, Glasgow. 1.00pm 
on Sunday 3rd September. 

We have a historic decision to make. Whatever that decision is to be we must 
make it and take it together, standing and fighting as one.

Tommy Sheridan.


What pretentious drivel and meaningless sloganising  . Does Sheridan actually 
know what his name-calling remark Infantile Ultra-Leftism actually means  ? . 
He certainly doesn't know what principled socialist  politics is . I really do 
have mixed feelings about posting such messages. "Fixation with personalities 
".My , Oh , My ... isn't that the classical kettle calling the pot black 
recrimination ?

Oh well , lets try and use the opportunity to once again expose the failure of 
democratic centralism and hopefully promote ourselves as an example of 
political party democracy without leaders . 

alan johnstone , edinburgh br 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]