This is an extract of a report from Socialist Party Scotland. The full report, including of the discussion and debate around Scottish independence and how to organise democratically, can be read online at socialistpartyscotland.org.uk
A successful conference took place on 4 October in Glasgow on the theme of building a trade union, socialist and working-class election challenge for the Scottish parliament election next year. The conference had been prepared over the last five months by the Conference Organising Committee (COC), where decisions around speakers and the democratic organisation of the conference were reached by consensus.
The COC was made up of representatives from the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), Socialist Party Scotland, the Scottish Left Alternative (SLA), the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), Collective Scotland (set up by activists around Jeremy Corbyn) and, vitally, trade union leaders in a personal capacity from Dundee City Unison, Glasgow City Unison, and the Unite Housing Association branch as observers.
Motion agreed:
The need for a working-class, socialist and trade union election challenge for Holyrood 2026 is undeniable. As the reaction to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s decision to create a “new kind of political party…rooted in trade unions, communities and social movements” – which has had tens of thousands of responses from Scotland – has shown there is a huge potential to build an alternative to the political establishment that can offer a united working-class platform to communities across Scotland.
This conference of trade unionists, socialists, left activists and organisations agree to work together to achieve a united election challenge for Holyrood 2026. This could take the form of existing socialist organisations with a long history of standing in elections – for example Scottish TUSC, the SSP and others – meeting with other newly created groups, including the Scottish Left Alternative electoral coalition, who are considering standing, to negotiate and agree where to stand candidates.
It would also take account of further concrete developments around the Your Party initiative in the run-up to October 4 and also in the run-up to next May, as well as for the local council elections in 2027 and for by-elections as and when they arise.
Either way, this conference agrees to help prepare a united socialist, trade union and working-class election challenge in as many parts of Scotland as possible for next May.
The gravity of the situation facing the working class means that we need to engage with as many workplace and community activists as possible, and to engage with Your Party as it develops in Scotland, to put forward the most credible and effective left challenge.
We agree to elect a coordinating committee with representatives from each organisation that supports this initiative, as well as leading trade unionists, to act as a forum to advance those discussions. We at all times seek to come to decisions based on consensus where at all possible.
Core policies that we agree on include: (Candidates and organisations standing in elections will of course add to these policies, and nor are they an exhaustive list of our views on all of the issues facing the working class in Scotland and internationally. We would also ask all candidates to stand on the pledge, if elected, of only taking the average wage of a skilled worker as an MSP)
- End all cuts and austerity – elected politicians in councils, Holyrood and Westminster must refuse to make cuts and fight for fully funded public services
- No coalitions or electoral agreements with parties or independents who have a record of implementing cuts and who refuse to sign up to a no-cuts platform
- For a massive programme of council house building to tackle the housing crisis
- Scrap the council tax and for its replacement with a progressive tax on wealth that makes the rich pay
- Increase the minimum wage to an immediate £15 an hour with no age exemptions – wages must rise automatically with inflation
- Abolish all anti-trade union laws
- Stop benefit cuts – benefits must match the cost of living
- Take the wealth off the billionaires – Tax the rich and big business – For public ownership and democratic control of the multinationals that dominate the economy
- End the genocide – End the occupation of Gaza – Build mass struggle for Palestinian rights and an independent Palestinian state
- Oppose all forms of racism – Fight for jobs, homes and public services for all – Defend the right to asylum and fight against the onslaught against refugees
- Defend and extend LGBTQ+ and women’s rights
- For socialist change, public ownership and democratic planning to tackle the environmental crisis
- For the right of self-determination for Scotland, including the right of the Scottish parliament to organise a second independence referendum. Fight for an independent socialist Scotland (We understand that some candidates may choose to not campaign for an independent socialist Scotland)
