Scottish Socialist Party Conference By Paul Wilcox Over 400 Scottish Socialist Party members and visitors attended the
6th annual SSP conference, which was held in Edinburgh over the
weekend of March 27-28. Paul Wilcox reports.
The conference represented a big step towards the SSP becoming a
mass party in Scotland. This was the first conference since the
election of six SSP MSPs at the Scottish Parliament elections last
May, when the party won more than 130,000 votes.
Just as important for the SSP's development has been the affiliation
of the RMT and moves towards affiliation from other unions. The SSP
gained credibility from its role in the FBU strike and more recently
in its support for the striking nursery nurses, many who have since
Tommy Sheridan in his keynote speech demanded the Scottish TUC call
a national demonstration for the striking nursery nurses even if the
leadership of public sector union Unison, which the nurses belong
He said: "We, in this party, will continue to support those nursery
nurses whilst other unions affiliated to New Labour are not because
that is what working class solidarity is all about."
Tommy also called on other trade unionists to break from New Labour
and join the only party in Scotland which represented working people.
The SSP conference reaffirmed its commitment to campaign for
Scottish Independence. The SSP will attempt to bring together all
supporters of an Independent Scotland in a convention to campaign
There were a number of motions attacking the SSP's moves to
establish an independence convention; the politics behind the
motions was that a small minority in the party, around 20% of
conference delegates a much smaller percentage of the party, are
These are the same tired old arguments from the Brit Left that it
would divide the working class in the "UK" Are these comrades saying
that the break up of the British State would be a step back for the
English working class? If we follow this logic we would end up
supporting the continuing occupation of the six counties -
politically and militarily, so as not to "divide" the Irish working
class from the English working class in fact a motion on Ireland
(defeated) from some of these comrades did suggest the need to unite
Another argument from the Brit Left is that we can only support an
independent Socialist Scotland, not an independent capitalist
Scotland. They do claim to defend the right of self-determination,
but they argue that the Scottish working class do not want
independence. How they argue this is confusing to say the least -
but if you believe in self-determination - then you must support the
right to raise the democratic demand for independence, and that
means under capitalism or Socialism.
At the present time the demand for an Independent Socialist Scotland
is not on the agenda, but independence is. Only by launching the
independence convention can the argument be won for a Scottish
In the debate Alan McCombes announced that the SNP and the Green
Party are now officially supporting the convention, and are looking
to launch the convention later in the year.
How socialists take up the national question will be key to the
success in the fight to develop a socialist consciousness within the
Scottish working class, particularly given the divisions throughout
sections of the bourgeoisie in Scotland.
As part of this debate there was a motion calling for independence
to be enshrined in the SSP constitution i.e. not subject to change
by the usual 2/3 rule. This was borne out of frustration from some
comrades on the continuing debate on independence. It should be
noted that the same small minority, including the CWI and the SWP,
have argued against independence at every recent conference of the
Many speakers opposed to this motion said that the SSP was a
pluralistic and Democratic Party and conflicting views and minority
rights must be safeguarded. SSP Co-Chair Catriona Grant said that
the executive were opposing it, not out of any opposition to
Independence but because such a proposal was a bureaucratic attempt
to solve a political problem, the motion was overwhelmingly lost.
Conference rejected calls for a ban on all faith-based schools after
a strongly contested debate in which many delegates fought to
advance the party's support for secular education. The conference
upheld the party's commitment to a secular Scotland in the long run,
and to continue the existing policy of accepting religious schools
where these had strong local support. It was accepted that change
had to come through maximising the arguments and support for
removing religion from schools. Many delegates pointed out that most
so called non religious schools were in effect Protestant schools.
The SSP is also calling for a nationwide debate involving parents,
teachers and school students on the question of religion in schools;
this will help come up with a more detailed policy.
John Milligan, from the RMT delegation, said the SSP had to back the
continued existence of religious schools, which meant primarily
Catholic schools in Scotland, if it wanted to win support from the
public and grow as a party.
"I ask conference to recognise the reality out in the country and
stand full square behind the SSP's policy. It's a good policy and
worth fighting for," he said.
All the motions and amendments on the question of the six counties
(The North of Ireland) were defeated. The existing policy which
includes calls for a united Ireland and withdrawal of troops
The motion from Dundee West and supported by the CWI Platform -
which called for working class unity, as shown by the demonstration
of Postal workers after the shooting of a fellow postal worker and
the Protestant and Catholic school kids who marched together against
There is nothing wrong with building working-class unity, but simply
to state the problem is sectarianism - is to forget the role of the
The continued British presence in Ireland maintains and perpetuates
sectarian division and conflict in the occupied north. Socialists
who preach protestant and catholic working class unity in the
abstract form and divorced from reality of the British Military
presence only serve to entrench sectarian divisions amongst the
As James Connolly said partition would lead to a "carnival of
reaction" on both sides of the water. Only by calling for the
withdrawal of all British Troops and the establishment of a united
Ireland, which accepts the rights of minorities, can we truly begin
to see working class unity.
This again was a hot issue with many different opinions; part of
this debate has a major relevance on the national question in
Scotland and Wales. SSP members accepted that there has to be a more
clear policy on this question - for all socialists in the British
There was also very good debate on prostitution and the tolerance
zones being advocated in the bill from independent MSP Margo
MacDonald. Angela McCormick, from Maryhill East, urged delegates to
back tolerance zones to minimise the risks faced by sex workers.
Other delegates opposed the Bill as it could mask the problems of
other sex workers not covered by the proposals and legitimise
pimping and exploitation. The motions on prostitution were withdrawn
and submitted to National Council for a fuller debate and there the
call for a day school to debate the issue was endorsed by conference.
For a good analysis of the question of tolerance zone's comrades
should read Catriona Grant's article in Frontline issue 12
A motion form Cumbernauld & Kilsyth calling for a Kurdistan
Solidarity Committee to be set up within the SSP was overwhelmingly
passed. Moving the motion was Kurdish asylum seeker and campaigner
Serder Barzini, who alongside hunger striker Fariborz Gravindi
Importantly, the conference also passed a motion welcoming the
establishment of Respect and sending fraternal greetings. The Euro
elections in June will provide a real opportunity for both the SSP
and RESPECT to work together to present a desperately needed
alternative to New Labour both north and south of the border.
Adding to this a motion was passed to support any slate put together
for the Euro elections by the Anti-capitalist Left, this is seen as
very important issue for the party. Both Alan McCombes urged
comrades to put their weight behind the Euro elections and the
importance of internationalism. Felicity Garvie heads the SSP's Euro
list. And as Frances Curran said at the ISM fringe meeting if we get
a SSP member elected to the European Parliament - then we will have
a bigger impact on pushing the project of the anti-capitalist left
Yet again the conference demonstrated that the SSP is a serious
force in Scotland. It was also healthy to see that in practice the
existence of organised platforms within the party allow it to
attract broader forces and to conduct serious political debates
without this at all cutting across its effective operation on the
ground either in campaigns or elections.
Overall, The SSP conference was a serious and educational
experience. The level of discussion and analysis was of a high order
and clarified how socialists in Scotland should respond to events
The Scottish Socialist Party faces many challenges in the months and
years ahead. There can be little doubt that the party will continue
to grow and strengthen through its campaigning work such as the
Scottish service tax campaign and its continuing work amongst the
For comrades on this side of the border we must rise to the
challenge facing us and for all socialists in England our aim must
be to build a dynamic, broad, truly democratic party to the left of
Labour which the working class so desperately needs.