18.09.1997

Draft statement

Draft statement to the National Council of the Scottish Socialist Alliance on misleading and false statements about the SSA which have been circulated by the CPGB/Weekly Worker

The SSA was launched to go beyond the sterile sectarian point-scoring that the left has suffered from for far too long. In a short time it has united significant layers of the left on a principled campaigning basis. Encouragingly, at our recent conference, there was overwhelming support for the Charter for socialist change and for ‘yes, yes’ in the referendum.

The SSA is also tolerant of minority views. The SSA has no problem accommodating the three or four CPGB members who voted against the SSA Charter and who favoured boycotting the referendum - they have a right to a minority view. But the Alliance National Council does not believe that the CPGB has the right to circulate misleading and false statements about the Alliance, to use provocative terms such as ‘national socialist’ to describe other affiliates, nor to circulate unsubstantiated and false personal accusations against SSA office bearers.

The latest example of false information being circulated by the CPGB came to light in August. The national secretary learnt that the Weekly Worker had in June published a false version of an SSA conference resolution. This only emerged after the SSA received complaints, based on the false report, from other socialists. Unlike the version in the Weekly Worker, the SSA has not accused the SLP of “recklessly splitting” nor the SWP of “ultra-leftism”. The SSA did not urge the SLP to “grow up” nor the SWP to “wake up”. The national secretary wrote to the Weekly Worker on August 21 pointing out these errors (the same day as Weekly Worker August 21 published another article, ‘SSA’s sectarian approach’, which was critical of the SSA, based solely on the false report). Yet eight days later (August 29 1997) Weekly Worker August 21 was posted by the CPGB to many, if not all, SSA members with no attempt to correct the false information.

Previously the June Alliance National Council called on the CPGB to stop circulating a ‘Campaign for Genuine Self-Determination’ leaflet that was leaving some people with the impression that the SSA was backing the CPGB referendum boycott - as a direct result of the leaflet it was announced from the platform at one major union conference that “the SSA supports a boycott”. But the CPGB continued to distribute the leaflet. The July Alliance National Council expressed its disappointment with the CPGB for doing so.

The August National Council was concerned that the CPGB chose to describe another Alliance affiliate (SML) as “national socialists”, making repeated comparisons with Joseph Pilsudski (an ex-Polish socialist, who eventually led a fascist military coup in 1926). It was also concerned about unsubstantiated and false accusations made by the CPGB against SSA trade union coordinator Richie Venton, which described him as sectarian and opposed to the SSA project. The National Council hoped that the CPGB members in Scotland would distance themselves from such provocative remarks about SML and false remarks about Richie Venton. But the CPGB has continued in the same vein (Weekly Worker August 21).

The Alliance National Council is alarmed at the time spent in recent months trying to set the record straight after misleading and false statements about the SSA have been circulated by the CPGB/Weekly Worker. In addition to taking up the limited administration time of the national secretary, these misleading and false statements will have been discussed at four consecutive Alliance National Councils. Unfortunately there is no sign that the CPGB/Weekly Worker are willing either to recognise the damage they have been causing to the Alliance nor to adopt a more positive approach to others in the Alliance.

The SSA will continue to build left unity on a principled basis. This requires socialists to seek common ground for activity and to discuss any differences in an honest, accurate and comradely manner. The Alliance National Council believes that the CPGB, through their recent actions, have placed themselves outside the normal working relations of the Scottish Socialist Alliance.

mover - Allan Green
national secretary