May 6 will be a historic day for Scotland with the first ever elections for a Scottish Parliament and even the press South of the border have been paying some attention to Blair’s concerns that he may not get everything his own way once the results are in.
Certainly socialists should be paying attention as political developments in Scotland are often more advanced than in the rest of this island. The fight against the poll tax, for example, introduced a year early in Scotland, was more militant than in England and Wales.
The debates in the lead up to the Referendum for the Scottish Parliament saw unprecedented co-operation between the left. This laid the basis for the formation of the Scottish Socialist Alliance and then the Scottish Socialist Party.
The outrageous decision to ban the name of the later, along with the Scottish Green Party, (see below) in forthcoming elections was taken by the new Registrar of Political Parties, who takes advice from a parliamentary committed dominated by New Labour MPs, apparently including Gwyneth Dunwoody and Gerald Kaufman.
With Labour under real pressure from the SNP, this is a blatant political decision aimed at damaging any challenge to the left. Campbell McGregor of Glasgow Kelvin Scottish Socialist Party branch reports:
Over 100 members attended the first conference of the Scottish Socialist Party on February 21 in Glasgow. The debate was lively but amicable. Conference adopted a 16 point political programme, based on support for an independent socialist Scotland.
In the forthcoming elections for the Scottish parliament, there is to be a two-tier system. One set of MPs will be elected under the old-fashioned first past the post system in constituencies with the old Westminster boundaries.
The other tier of seats is to be elected using the list form of proportional representation (PR) in eight seats, based on previous Euro-constituencies.
Conference decided to contest seats in these elections, taking place on May 6. The SSP’s best chance of winning will be in Glasgow, where Tommy Sheridan will be the number one candidate, and where it needs to increase its vote by 75 per cent from the general election to win a seat.
An electoral pact has been made with the SWP over the first-past-the post constituency seats, and the SWP has decided not to contest the regional seats. Scargill’s SLP seem determined to do their own thing, and agreement has not been reached here.
The SSP also decided to stand in the European elections on June 10, with Hugh Kerr, an MEP who has defected from the Labour Party, as number one candidate.
The SSP was formed out of the Scottish Socialist Alliance (SSA). All forces who were involved in the SSA have joined the SSP, and it has picked up a few defectors from the Labour Party (including two Glasgow city councillors) and the SNP The Scottish Republican Socialist Party has also joined.
The SSP’s largest component, the former Scottish Militant Labour, have survived recent difficulties better than their comrades in England.
They are, though, semi-detached from the rest of their international tendency, the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI). They have handed over much of their apparatus to the SSP (including the paper Scottish Socialist Voice), but have retained a Scottish organisation and identity of their own (including a journal in the name of the CWI).
Although it is understandable that much of the SSP’s time has been taken up with preparing for elections, the SSP also needs to develop its intervention into the broader class struggle.
This has already included support for some industrial disputes involving Glasgow city council workers, and Kurdish solidarity work.
They also need to relate to developments in the Labour Party. Labour MP Dennis Canavan is intending to contest the Scottish elections as an independent.
The selection of Labour candidates for the Scottish elections has not gone well for the Blairites, with several victories for the ex-LCC "soft left".
The SSP remains rather diverse. For example, a recent day school on drugs revealed support for decriminalisation, but there were a few dissenters.
There are important differences on Europe. Although there is general agreement on opposing the Maastricht convergence criteria in their present form, a minority supports the single European currency and further European convergence, but on better terms. The majority remains hostile to convergence. The SSP needs to make its mind up on this issue before the expected referendum on a single European currency.
Model letter
Allow the Scottish Socialist party and the Scottish Green party to register to contest elections!
We are dismayed by your decision to refuse registration to the above parties. We strongly urge you to reconsider your decision and allow both these parties to register.
One does not have to politically support the Scottish Socialist Party or the Scottish Green Party to recognise their democratic right to stand in elections for the following reasons:
1. Both parties believe in Scottish independence. Without having to support this position, it is politically legitimate for these parties to be organised as the "Scottish" Socialist Party and the "Scottish" Green Party.
2. Both parties intend to stand in every regional seat in Scotland in the Scottish Parliamentary and European elections. The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) and the Green Party (England & Wales) have been registered yet will either be mounting a very small or non-existent electoral challenge in Scotland. It is, therefore, unreasonable to refuse registration to the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party.
3. The Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party are the largest "small" parties in Scotland outside the 4 main parties. Of the small parties, they also have the highest profile. It is therefore unreasonable to presume that other "socialist" and "green" parties would be disadvantaged by the registration of the Scottish Socialist Party or the Scottish Green Party.
4. The Scottish Socialist Party has qualified for a TV & Radio election broadcast for the Scottish Parliamentary and European Elections (and it is possible the Scottish Green Party will also qualify). The distinct political identity of the Scottish Socialist Party will, therefore, be even clearer to voters in Scotland.
In the interests of democracy, we ask you to take the necessary steps to ensure that the Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Green Party are registered without any further delay.
Yours faithfully
Send copies to:
Donald Dewar, Scottish Office, New St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh, EH1 3TF (Fax 0131 244 2756)
Jack Straw, Home Secretary, House of Commons, London, SW1
Scottish Socialist Party, 73 Robertson St, Glasgow G2 (Fax 0141 221 7715 Tel 0141 221 7714)