EDITORIAL
Left Unity initiative should be
welcomed
‘These are undoubtedly times of
crisis, but a time of crisis can also be a time of opportunity.
Working class people in Scotland and across the world will face
increasing pressure as the crisis deepens. A renewed left
must be there standing shoulder to shoulder with these (extra)
ordinary folk, defending them from attack and helping them defend
themselves.
But this is also the time to be spelling
out the case ‘for a newer world’, for a new and
reinvigourated socialism, shorn of the errors of the past and
claiming democracy, liberty, science, and the environment as our
own, as well as the more traditional territories of workers
rights, social ownership, anti-imperialism and wealth
redistribution.
All socialists, but particularly
pro-independence socialists, need to make this crusade their
common cause. And they will call on thinking people with a
conscience everywhere to join them.’
The Bubble Bursts
Steve Arnott
The Daily Record and Daily Mail carried
a story on Tuesday 9th December which sent shock waves
through Scottish left politics. ‘Tommy flies the
Red flag of truce’ went one headline.
The gist of the story was that, at the
launch of Solidarity’s new pamphlet on the economic crisis, The
Bubble Bursts, Tommy Sheridan had said that, given the huge
attacks faced by working class people due to the economic crisis,
and the consequent challenge to the left, it would be
‘irresponsible’ for any left organisation not to seek
maximum unity in action, in both the electoral and campaigning
spheres - regardless of his and others personal circumstances in
relation to ongoing perjury proceedings. Tommy went on to say
that he hoped leading left trade unionists in Scotland would
‘bang heads together’ in order that one unified
socialist candidate could be presented to the electorate in any
given constituency in the forthcoming general election, whether
in 2009 or 2010.
No one yet appears to have ruled such a
possibility out - though some internet comments to the effect
that this, once again, shows that Solidarity are a one man band,
were wide of the mark. The facts are that there had been a number
of informal discussions within Solidarity on the question of how
to take the situation for the left in Scotland forward, and that,
at a well attended and representative National Steering Committee
of Solidarity on Sunday 7th December a resolution from
Tommy Sheridan was passed unanimously that set this process in
motion (see link below).
It would be wrong to give the impression
however, that it was only internal discussion within Solidarity
that gave rise to this new dynamic – senior left trade
unionists in Scotland have also been holding discussions
independently around the question of working class political
representation and moves towards left unity. This in
itself raises the possibility of wider forces being involved in
any unity project than were involved in the initial socialist
alliance project which led to the SSP of 1998-2004.
Democratic Green Socialist online magazine
welcomes this development unreservedly. Particularly, we
welcome the sense of the Solidarity NSC meeting of the Sunday 7th
December that any moves towards left unity in Scotland cannot
exclude the SSP. This does not mean that, in any way, we
withdraw our criticisms of the actions of the current leadership
of the SSP in relation to the Sheridan defamation case. However,
it does mean that we realise that compared to the current
objective social and economic conditions, such considerations are
secondary.
The recent Ballochmyle council by-election
in Ayrshire shows what can be achieved with the right candidate
and the right campaign, and what could be built on by the left
where there is only one left candidate on the ballot paper.
Solidarity candidate Danny Masterton came fourth with 7% of votes
cast. A similar vote across the country on the 2nd
vote for a Holyrood election would have seen 8 socialist MSPs
returned to the Scottish Parliament.
Is such a thing possible in the future?
Yes. Is it desirable? Yes - if all of the left has
the courage to learn from the tragedies of the past.
Tommy and the others who still live under
the shadow of legal proceedings, who have wholeheartedly backed
this initiative, deserve a big pat on the back. They have
been willing to indicate that, whatever awaits them personally on
the legal front, they are prepared to put the objective interests
of working class folk first. We salute them, and we say to
all on the left in Scotland – and particularly the
pro-independence, green left – a door has been opened.
For our part, we hope you will decide to
enter.