The European Parliament is not where real power lies in Europe
Bundesbank, the London and Nestlé do more to shape the lives of hundreds of millions of Europeans. Most members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are content to take their large salaries, with expenses naturally, and strut on a stage without an audience knowing that nothing they door say matters to anyone.
This time though the elections to the European Parliament can help change the evolution of politics in Britain. Respect - the Unity Coalition will be contesting all the European constituency seats on a programme opposing imperialist war, privatisation and poverty. A proportional representation system will be used. This can allow candidates to win seats with between 5 and 9 percent of votes cast if they are heading a party list. Unusually of in a British election this favours smaller parties. It also helps break the taboo that many Labour supporters have of voting for other parties. They can vote for an anti-war party and anti-war Labour candidates, if any survived the selection process.
Almost every night of the week George Galloway is addressing hundreds of people at selection meetings and rallies. Respect is having significant success in winning support from union branches and a Muslim community that feels itself under attack from New Labour and its security services. It has a real possibility of getting a candidate elected on the list system.
This is a possibility we welcome and Socialist Resistance wants its supporters and readers to campaign for this. We also need to accept that it may not happen. It is a organisation. Even though it has made a dynamic start may not be well en known to cross the threshold to elec success on its first attempt.
Elsewhere in this issue we carry a n on the Scottish Socialist Party's confer They now have six members in the Sc Parliament. This did not happen the time they stood in elections. Lots of p organisation, campaigning and actively ing a party were required • The European, London Assembly mayoral elections are opportunities to consolidating the contacts and network emerged from the anti-war move They are perfectly timed to let us g voice to the Labour voters and youth want a political alternative. The real starts on June II.
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4 soclalist reslstance April 2004 Over 400 Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) members and visitors attended the 6th annual SSP conference in Edinburgh at the end of March. Paul Wilcox reports. I since it Partiamen me deced
Scottish Parliament (MSP) elected last May with more than 130 000 votes, is a big step towards the SSP becoming a mass party.
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 in Scotland, many of whom have since joined the SSP
Tommy Sheridan in his keynote speech demanded the Scottish TUC call a national demonstration for the striking nursery nurses These comrades chose to downplay the