Political questioning at SSP conference


THE 2005 Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) conference was held last
weekend, following Tommy Sheridan’s resignation as party leader in
November 2004.
Philip Stott of International Socialists (CWI Scotland) reports.

THE MOOD of the conference was different from previous SSP events. It
was a much more sombre and questioning conference.

The authority of some members of the party leadership has been
diminished as a consequence of their role over Tommy Sheridan’s
effective removal as party convenor. In turn, this also reflects a
political questioning of the programme and methods the SSP should fight
on.

There was no discussion at the conference on Tommy Sheridan’s
resignation. There was a strong mood to try and put the last three
months in the past and move on to rebuild the support that the SSP has
lost.

But if the SSP leadership thought that they would receive a vote of
confidence from the conference they were proved wrong. This was
reflected in the result of the election for convenor. Colin Fox, MSP for
the Lothians region, defeated Alan McCombes, the SSP’s policy
coordinator, by a much larger margin than anticipated (252 votes, 62%,
to 154, 38%) .

Tommy Sheridan backed Colin Fox, who attempted to distance himself
from the actions of the SSP executive committee (EC), although he voted
for them at the time. MSPs Frances Curran, Carolyn Leckie and Rosie Kane
supported Alan McCombes. Despite our political differences with him, the
CWI voted for Colin Fox as the best option for the SSP, given the choice
that was on offer.

SSP MSP, Rosemary Byrne, topped the poll. She has openly come out and
said that the EC’s action in calling on Tommy Sheridan to stand down was
wrong. She easily out-polled Carolyn Leckie MSP, one of the current
national co-chairs who was elected second. Tommy Sheridan topped the
poll for the male list for the EC.

The conference debated many important issues, from Iraq to the
economic programme of the SSP, the attacks on public-sector workers,
pensions, the general election challenge, as well as the SSP’s attitude
to events in Latin America (more reports next week). The Committee for a
Workers’ International platform of the SSP played a leading and at times
a decisive role in these debates.

Iraq

THE SSP conference began with a debate on Iraq. A motion to the
conference, inspired by the Socialist Worker platform, called for
uncritical support to the "Iraqi popular resistance." The only
amendment to challenge this came from Dundee West SSP and was put
forward by CWI members.

Our amendment called for the removal of all occupying troops and for
support for mass resistance to the occupation, through the building of
workers’ and farmers’ militias that seek to unite all the different
ethnic and religions groups in Iraq.

It also called on the SSP to refuse to give support to the
reactionary and anti-working class forces that make up part of the
resistance in Iraq. Sinead Daly from Dundee West argued that: "We
cannot as socialists give our support to those forces in Iraq whose
ideas and methods are anti-working class, anti-women and who, in some
cases, are intent on trying to provoke a civil and sectarian war in
Iraq. We should support a movement to unite the working class and the
poor based on a struggle for a living wage, healthcare, education, and
basic services, as well as opposition to the imperialist occupation of
their country."

This amendment was opposed by a long succession of Socialist Workers
Party (SWP) members, who claimed that the "working class are not
able to struggle just now" and that the "trade unions are too
weak and strikes in the public sector are banned."

To illustrate the way in which the SWP have moved away from basing
themselves on the working class and socialist ideas, they also attempted
to delete a reference in another motion on Iraq that called on the SSP
to "support the organised working-class and trade union movement as
the most important part of the resistance." The Dundee West
amendment was passed overwhelmingly.

The press and media ran a number of items prior to the conference
highlighting the fact that the SSP was going to debate a motion that
would "support beheadings in Iraq and the killing of British
troops." The main item on the BBC Scottish news on Saturday night
was that a motion giving uncritical support to all of the resistance in
Iraq had been defeated.

Without doubt the CWI’s amendment went a long way to saving the SSP
from a storm of media and political attacks had the SWP motion been
passed unamended. None of the leaders of the SSP intervened in this
debate, despite the fact that the consequences for the SSP could have
been severe.

This underlines the principled approach that the CWI has always taken
to the SSP, arguing for ideas that would strengthen the SSP and opposing
ideas that would weaken or damage it.

A social or a socialist economy?

ONE MOTION stating that "a considerable development of the
social economy will be necessary as an interim alternative to the
private sector before socialism can be achieved" was rejected.

Ronnie Stevenson and Brian Smith, CWI members and UNISON shop
stewards from Glasgow Cathcart, moved a motion rejecting the idea that
there was any model based on capitalism, including Norway, Denmark or
Ireland, that could improve the position of the working class.

This debate is important because in a recent debate in the Scottish
parliament, SSP MSP Frances Curran argued in favour of the social –
democratic model of Norway as a way forward for Scotland saying: "I
ask the SNP what the model is to be – neo-liberalism or social
democracy."

The CWI-supported motion called for the nationalisation, under
democratic working-class control and management, of the multinationals
that dominate the economy. This was passed overwhelmingly, as was an
amendment that explained that supporting the idea of a "social
economy" was arguing for another form of capitalism.

Conference passed a motion calling for a one-day public sector strike
in defence of jobs and pensions. Jim McFarlane, chair of Dundee City
UNISON branch, and Gary Clark, CWU branch delegate, both CWI members,
spoke about the attacks on public-sector workers and the threat of
privatisation of the Post Office.

An amendment supporting Roger Bannister’s campaign for UNISON general
secretary (see page 11) was challenged by the SWP who tried to get the
conference to back the so-called ‘United Left’ candidate Jon Rogers.
This was rejected, and the conference voted to back Roger Bannister.
This followed the decision of the national SSP UNISON members’ meeting,
which included nursery nurses, who voted to back Roger Bannister based
on his fighting record and the fact that he stands for UNISON to make a
clear break from New Labour.

The 2005 SSP conference saw the ideas of the CWI find a bigger
audience than has been the case in the past. CWI member Sinead Daly was
elected on to the executive committee. Philip Stott came eighth on the
male list out of 23 candidates, with the top seven being elected. 40
copies of International Socialist were sold as well as 10 copies of the
socialist and 10 of the new pensions pamphlet.