Scottish Socialist Party Conference

international | miscellaneous | news report Saturday March 11, 2006 00:40 by hs - sp (per cap)

300 delegates attended the 2006 Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) conference, which met in Dundee, last weekend.

The SSP party conference has just taken place. The main debates centered on the political future of the SSP, including the leaderships attempt to pull out of first past the post elections and it's futher campaign to create a broadbased independence popular front. I've compiled a number of reports from the weekly worker, cwi, ssp official website, mainstream press and the british socialist worker.

Reports from the weekly worker

Left nationalists at the crossroads

"The coming year is set to be a crucial one for the Scottish Socialist Party. In May 2007 the party will be fighting to hang on to its six MSPs in the Scottish parliament. A daunting task, given the party’s recent poll ratings and election results. The MSPs were all elected from the regional lists of Scotland’s additional member system of proportional representation. In most of the five regions that returned SSP MSPs the loss of a few hundred votes will see SSP representation wiped out. In a worst-case scenario, the party might be lucky to hang on to just one of its two Glasgow MSPs - a return to the position after the 1999 elections when Tommy Sheridan was alone in carrying the SSP banner as an elected parliamentarian."

Full text:
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/615/ssp.htm

McCombes strategy provokes reaction

"the dynamic of the leadership towards becoming simply a left nationalist party is very much in evidence. But it is provoking some resistance on the left and amongst rank and file comrades - this was shown by the vote on the independence convention, where the executive’s position went through by something like a 60%-40% margin. Quite a few speeches from the floor were opposed to what is effectively the leadership’s central position - an independent capitalist Scotland"

Full text:

http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/615/ssp%202.htm

Report from CWI faction

Scottish Socialist Party conference

"The EC put a motion to conference that would have seen the SSP withdraw from all constituencies for the 2007 Scottish parliament elections. Their motion argued that only in “exceptional circumstances” would the SSP contest ‘first-past-the post’ (FPTP) constituencies. Instead, the SSP would concentrate on the PR regional lists - which is where the six MSP’s the SSP currently hold were elected.
The CWI, through an amendment from Dundee West, moved by Sinead Daly, sought to amend the EC motion. She argued that a wholesale retreat from first-past-the post seats would be seen as big setback and would further damage the SSP. She also called for the SSP to rule out calling for a vote for the SNP or any other of the big business parties in 2007."

Full text
http://www.socialistworld.net/index.html

From the official SSP website

Silvery Tay turns red for the weekend

"After a vibrant Dundee conference a confident SSP is in fighting trim armed with a distinctive strategy for the political battles running up to next year¹s Holyrood and council polls.
In the parliament and in industrial and community struggles the party now has a clear set of proposals which tackle the challenges posed by big business and its political allies in Holyrood and Westminster.
And both the way the policies were agreed - after real debate and input from members - and their content stands in sharp contrast to the bland, PR stunt-driven politics on offer from their pro-market opponents"

Full text
http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/pages/confrept.html

A collection of reports from the mainstream media compiled on the SSP website.

http://www.scottishsocialistparty.info/

From the British Socialist Worker

"Well-informed debates also took place around crime and drugs, with delegates rejecting mandatory sentences for those found carrying knives and supporting the proposal from MSP Rosemary Byrne for a statutory right to treatment for people with drug problems. Conference also voted to affiliate to Unite Against Fascism after a debate which included a powerful intervention by PCS union president Janice Godrich in favour of affiliation
From the British Socialist Worker"

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/article.php?article_id...=8446