15.02.1996

Scottish Socialist Alliance launched

A step forward for left unity - now for political clarity

On Saturday February 10, over 400 people packed into the City Halls in Glasgow to attend the launch of the Scottish Socialist Alliance. The meeting had more the character of a rally than a conference. Nevertheless, it represented an important step forward in the fight to build a united working class alternative to the Labour Party in Scotland and throughout the rest of the country.

Now a wide-ranging debate on the nature of the new organisation, on its programme, structure and politics, is called for. Some of the lines of demarcation that still divide us politically were aired on February 10, but there was little time to do much more.

For instance, in the debate from the floor Mary Ward for the Communist Party focused on the section of the motion from the Steering Group that spoke of the new organisation’s relationship to left Labour MPs. This, she pointed out, contained an important concession to Labourism. The new organisation has broken from Labour organisationally, but clearly not from Labourism ideologically.

Point 4 of the motion states that the SSA will “work in the forthcoming general election to maximise the anti-Tory vote and to remove the Tories from office. We will not stand candidates in any Tory marginal seats nor stand against candidates in other parties with a clear socialist record. We will however stand candidates in selected seats in order to highlight our intention to build a socialist alternative to the pro-market establishment parties.”

Surely Labour is a ‘pro-market establishment party’? Its left wing is not composed of people with “clear socialist records”. On the contrary, the historical role of the Labour left has been to muddy the waters of working class politics, not to bring ‘clarity’. It has obscured the genuine pro-capitalist role of the party by presenting a left face to the working class and its militants. It has tied generations of workers and socialists to the cruel illusion that Labour could be a vehicle for revolutionary change, that it could be ‘transformed’ for socialism.

Objectively, the role of the Labour left is no different today. Its MPs do not deserve our automatic support by dint of some ‘socialist’ hot air and knowing the words of the ‘Red Flag’. They should be judged on what they are prepared to do for the working class - which means breaking from Blair’s ‘new’ Labour.

Any individual on the left of the Labour Party asking for the support of the working class should be asked to stand publicly on a minimum platform for the defence of the working class and democratic rights.

If they cannot, then they don’t deserve our vote.

This position came under attack at the February 10 meeting from members of the Communist Party of Scotland, a remnant of the opportunist wing of the CPGB that congealed in the early 1990s. Edith Constable of Dundee CPS insisted on being called specifically to attack our principled position on Labour. She defended the likes of John McCallion (a Dundee MP with left pretensions) and insisted we do not want to “alienate” the left of the party.

Tommy Sheridan’s contribution from the platform - in contrast to this mealy -mouthed pro-Labourism - was motivated by real fighting spirit. As he said, we are out to build an “alternative” to Labour, to “the system, the establishment, the free market itself”. In contrast to Labour’s ‘stakeholding society’, Sheridan punched home the message that,

“the only stake we need is a wooden one to drive through the heart of the free market system. This is the beast hounding our class, our workers, our pensioners and our young people.”

The SSA is an expression of the fact that there is an overwhelming desire for working class unity in the fight against capitalism. As Tommy put it to the conference, there are “talents, skills and enthusiasm in every organisation: let’s draw these together.” These sentiments for unity will be shared by all those in our movement dedicated to the cause of working class revolution and socialism. The only weapon we have in our fight against the immensely powerful capitalist class is our organisation and unity.

These are not technical questions, however. Essentially, a working class party is built and united around a political programme. Thus, the debate that will now follow the agreement in principle to set up the SSA is the most important element of building the new organisation.

The next meeting of the SSA on April 20 will have the character more of a working conference, which is a step forward. Our comrades look forward to the debate and to arguing our case for a united revolutionary party, based on a programme for working class revolution and communism.

Ian Mahoney