22.08.1996

Lion’s meow

Tommy Sheridan: If I were prime minister (Channel 4, August 11)

That Tommy Sheridan is a skilled orator and a charismatic working class leader is without question. Yet he failed to use his slot on If I were prime minister to put forward either a coherent analysis of the crisis of capitalism or to stir the masses towards greater class struggle.

Instead, he allowed himself to be portrayed as a messianic, well-meaning boy from next door who just ‘wanted to help people’. He was patronised by George Galloway (“From an old bull to a young bull”) and Charles Moore, editor of the Daily Telegraph, alike. Tommy seemed about as dangerous as a three-day old kitten.

With little or no mention of Scottish Militant Labour or the Scottish Socialist Alliance, we saw a rather idiosyncratic portrait of an individual, rather than being given a sense of someone who was the product of a revolutionary movement, which Tommy undoubtedly is.

He was at his best when discussing the question of the minimum wage over a pint after a game of football. When asked if it would not drive small businessmen to the wall, Sheridan was unequivocal in his support for the exploited rather than the exploiter.

It was a little surprising therefore that three days after the programme was broadcast, Sheridan moved an amendment in Glasgow City Chambers calling for the minimum wage to be set at the princely sum of £4.28 per hour, almost £ less than the so-called European Decency Threshold and nearly £4 less than the amount which is actually necessary to live any kind of ‘decent’ life in Britain today. Sheridan appears to be falling into the trap of arguing for what is publicly ‘safe’ rather than for what the working class needs.

If Tommy Sheridan were to become prime minister, it would mean that significant sections of the working class of this country were on the move, but it would also mean we would have to be vigilant in our fight against any manifestations of opportunism and reformism.

Mary Ward