09.03.2006

Left nationalists at the crossroads

A much divided Scottish Socialist Party held its annual conference in Dundee on March 4-5. Nick Rogers was there

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.

The consequences would be severe. Not only would party morale and credibility be damaged, but party finances would be drastically curtailed. The MSPs donate approximately half their parliamentary salaries to party coffers. Unlike Respect (or George Galloway) the SSP and its elected representatives all commit themselves to live on the salary of a skilled worker. For some MSPs this has meant a pay cut. It is on the basis of this flow of income that the SSP expanded from three full-time regional organisers to eight and supports its offices and a team of Scottish Socialist Voice journalists. Other official funds pay for caseworkers and a team of researchers in the parliament.

Electoral strategy

This March 4-5 annual conference sought to chart a way forward. Last week I discussed the anticipated debates on electoral strategy and the independence convention (Weekly Worker March 2). The executive motion, debated on Saturday, proposed that the SSP stand in first-past-the-post constituency seats in next year's elections only "in exceptional circumstances". Despite the fact that both Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes lined up in support of the executive, the amendment from Dundee West - supported by the Committee for a Workers' International platform - was carried in an extremely tight 140 to 132 card vote. The successful amendment warned that to withdraw from all constituency elections "would be seen as a major retreat for the SSP and could impact on our list vote", proposing that "each region should discuss targeting some key constituencies, depending on resources, where the SSP would stand candidates". Crucially the amendment committed the party in those constituencies where no SSP candidate stands to "not call for a vote for the SNP or any other of the pro-capitalist parties".

What the defeat for the executive means in practice remains to be seen - it is up to each region to decide how many constituency candidates to present to the electorate. And in fact the amendment itself represents a major step back from the position in 2003, when the SSP fought practically every constituency. The supporters of the executive motion argued - on the basis, they admitted, of anecdotal evidence - that enough voters had declined to support the SSP with both their votes to reduce the vote for SSP list candidates.

This seems a highly dubious line of reasoning. Certainly, some voters were confused about the electoral system in 2003, believing that they were not allowed to vote twice for the same party. But voters are likely to become more literate in the intricacies of the Scotland's version of PR as election succeeds election. In previous polls it is also true that a sizeable proportion of the electorate chose to cast both of their votes for the same party. This was the case with many SSP supporters. Without an SSP candidate in the constituency elections, some potential SSP supporters will stick with their constituency choice for the list vote. And without a sizeable band of constituency candidates in a region to provide a focus, it will prove more difficult to generate publicity and campaign effectively in many communities - hustings, for instance, will be closed to the SSP.

The calculation for some supporters of the executive's election strategy is that the SSP should stand aside in the constituencies to give the Scottish National Party a clear run. This, they argue, is the best way to achieve the pro-independence majority that would deliver a referendum on independence. None made this case in the debate. Hugh Kerr - who has argued against standing in constituencies in May 2007 in the pages of Scottish Socialist Voice - moved an amendment to delete the "exceptional circumstances" proviso in the executive motion. He failed to mention the SNP. His omission was criticised as "disingenuous" by Mary MacGregor (formerly Ward) of the Republican Communist Network, earning a retort from comrade Kerr that referred to her "venom". Comrade Kerr's amendment was defeated, as was another in which he sought to strike Westminster from the list of elections the SSP will "normally" contest "subject to sufficient resources". Comrade Kerr - once a Labour member of the European parliament for Essex - is clearly moving towards the nationalist wing of the SSP.

Independence convention

Hugh Kerr in his contribution did make the telling observation that in 2003 the SSP took two votes from the SNP for every one from Labour. Whatever the official advice from the SSP in May 2007, it is clear what the leadership expects to be the consequence of the SSP's withdrawal from the majority of constituency elections - a boost for the SNP vote.

After all, the desire for an increase in SNP's parliamentary representation is the unavoidable logic of the SSP's participation in the newly launched independence convention. Colin Fox, addressing conference after his first year as convenor (in a generally well-received speech), condemned both New Labour and the Liberal Democrats, but pointedly failed to attack the SNP. Although the SSP leadership obviously wants as strong a vote as possible for its own party in regional lists, it is banking everything on achieving independence in the near to medium future. Alan McCombes - former Scottish Socialist Voice editor and the party's main theoretician - was prepared to concede in the debate on the independence convention on Sunday that a "pro-independence" majority might have to wait until after the 2011 elections. But, the longer independence is delayed, the more flawed will appear the strategy of the leadership. For what justification can there be for the lack of united socialist response to the actions of the existing British state?

There appears little likelihood that the other members of the independence convention - the SSP and the Scottish Greens - will increase their representation significantly next year. It therefore falls to the SNP to keep the independence flag flying. Another poor electoral outing for the SNP will see the prospect of independence recede further. And the contradictions at the heart of the SSP's embrace of nationalism further exposed.

Not that the executive experienced any difficulty in getting their independence convention motion passed. An amendment backed by the RCN to make the adoption of republicanism and anti-imperialism (in the guise of withdrawal from Nato and neutrality) a condition for the SSP's participation in the convention was defeated. However, another motion that confirmed these two principles as central planks of the SSP's position were passed. This was regarded as a satisfactory outcome by the RCN. But how far the SSP will be able to set the agenda inside a convention that will inevitably be numerically dominated by the SNP is a moot point.

The convention will have to proceed either on the basis of majority votes or consensus. Either way, it is difficult to see how the SSP can hope to prevent the far less radical approach of the SNP - even on the questions of democracy and constitution at the heart of the convention's work - win the day. The executive's motion says as much: "It is possible to cooperate in the campaign to achieve an independent Scotland without the parties, groups and individuals involved burying or diluting their differences over ideology and politics." In other words, independence will be achieved on the SNP's terms, but with the SSP positioning itself as the radical voice of the independence camp.

Branch motions expressing the perspectives of the CWI and Workers Unity were debated, but, with the passage of the executive's motion, fell without a vote.

Another attempt by the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement to end internal party debate on the national question by "entrenching" the SSP's constitutional commitment to "an independent socialist Scotland" was supported from the rostrum only by the mover, Donald Anderson. In the course of the debate on the SSP's approach to independence every other speaker who tackled the SRSM motion was against it.

The leadership, to its credit, has always opposed the SRSM's attempts to narrow the political basis of the SSP. Mary MacGregor predicted that if passed the SRSM motion would lead to a "witch-hunt" of those who opposed the party's current position on the issue. Yet up to a third of conference supported the motion on a show of hands. Its strongest backing yet and a very worrying trend within the party.

People not profit

Despite a difficult year - with the continuing ramifications of Tommy Sheridan's removal as convenor, and disappointing election results in the general election and by-elections - attendance at this year's conference was as high as usual. Not only was the conference hall full, but a strong turnout of young people and women pointed to the continuing strength of the party's roots that may enable it to weather the storms still ahead.

Next year's local government elections may well provide something of a fillip for the party if the Scottish parliamentary elections fall short of the 2003 breakthrough. A motion proposing gender balance amongst the SSP's candidates in these elections was carried.

The presence of the RMT actively moving and seconding motions was a reminder of the party's biggest success to date in gaining the backing of the trade union movement.

The opening debate of conference discussed a rebranding of the SSP's campaigning under the slogan 'People not profit'. The CWI had brought a counter motion to the executive's series of bullet points that sought to flesh out the campaigning and ideological commitments - including condemning the "reactionary bombings in London" and thus earning the opposition of the Socialist Worker platform. On the first morning the executive handed out to each delegate and visitor a bundle of sample leaflets - covering the full-range of the party's campaigns - bearing the new slogan and the logo of a clench-fisted young woman. Most delegates deemed that the executive had done enough to escape the CWI's strictures.

Tommy Sheridan made something of a political comeback in the party with his election as one of the two co-chairs. However, the rising of his star failed to persuade delegates to back the proposal he made a year ago to support mandatory prison sentences for all illegal carrying of knives. A motion from comrade Sheridan's Cardonald branch proposing to lock away such transgressors for 18 months fell when an alternative motion opposing mandatory sentences was carried.

Another motion that called for "increased policing in areas particularly affected by violent street crime" met with opposition but was carried. The SSP resolved to support laws outlawing physical violence against children in another controversial debate that attracted a fair amount of coverage in the Scottish press.

The Socialist Worker platform succeeded against sharp opposition in getting the conference to agree affiliations to the Campaign Against Climate Change and Unite Against Fascism. Opponents advocated grassroots campaigns initiated by the SSP that would be Scottish rather than British-wide. The SW platform also successfully prevented moves to block SSP student groups from affiliating to outside campaigns without national SSP approval.

However, SW celebrations were cut short when late on Sunday an RCN motion was passed forbidding the SSP from affiliating to campaigns that do not operate according to a democratic constitution. A trial of strength on the party's executive and national council awaits.

ISM dissolution

A restructuring of the internal political dynamics of the SSP is in the offing. In the next week or two the International Socialist Movement platform is set to dissolve. This is the platform that was formed when the majority of Scottish Militant Labour split from the CWI. It contained the bulk of the leadership, including Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes. Some within the ISM have talked about creating a wider forum within which to discuss the future of the SSP. Over the last year the RCN and others have been invited to discuss a possible reconfiguration of those forces that the ISM sometimes describes as "pro-SSP". Neither the SW platform nor the CWI has been involved.

Tensions within the ISM - especially between the supporters of Alan McCombes and Tommy Sheridan - have no doubt played their part, making the continuation of the ISM in its present form untenable. It is important for the internal health of the SSP that a full explanation is provided of these developments and any documents are published. Debates vital to the future direction of the party should not be held behind closed doors.