Name | Tommy Sheridan |
---|---|
Office | Convenor of Scottish Socialist Party |
Term start | 1998 |
Term end | 11 November 2004 |
Predecessor | New Position |
Successor | Colin Fox |
Office | Joint convenor of Solidarity |
Term start | 3 September 2006 |
Predecessor | New Position |
Successor | Incumbent |
Constituency mp2 | Glasgow |
Parliament2 | Scottish |
Term start2 | 6 May 1999 |
Term end2 | 3 May 2007 |
Office3 | Councillor for Pollok ward on Glasgow City Council |
Term start3 | 1992 |
Term end3 | 1 May 2003 |
Predecessor3 | |
Successor3 | Keith Baldassara |
Birth date | March 07, 1964 |
Birth place | Glasgow, Scotland |
Party | Solidarity |
Alma mater | University of Stirling |
Footnotes | }} |
Sheridan was active as a Militant tendency entryist in the Labour Party, before leaving Labour as a member of Scottish Militant Labour (SML). He was a prominent campaigner against the poll tax in Scotland, and was jailed for six months for attending a warrant sale after Glasgow Sheriff Court had served a court order on him banning his presence. Sheridan has twice been jailed in connection with campaigning against the presence of the nuclear fleet at Faslane Naval Base - a presence which continues.
In 2006 in the case of Sheridan v News International he won an action for defamation against the News of the World and was awarded £200,000 damages. The following year, he was charged with perjury, for having told lies to the court in the defamation case. In the following weeks, six of his relations and colleagues were also charged. In October 2010, he appeared together with his wife Gail at a trial for perjury. While the charges against his wife were withdrawn, on 23 December 2010, Sheridan was convicted of perjury, and on 26 January he was sentenced to three years imprisonment. In the light of the recent News of the World phone hacking affair, the Crown Office has been ordered to reassess the case.
Since leaving Holyrood, he has pursued a media career, with a chat show on Talk 107, a show at the Edinburgh Fringe and appearing on Celebrity Big Brother 2009 for a reported fee of £100,000. He has justified this appearance by saying that he needed the money and that it is "..an honest offer of employment. I'm not crossing a picket line. I'm not hurting anyone."
From within the Militant, he was the public face of a mass non-payment campaign against the poll tax in Scotland (where it was introduced a year earlier than other parts of the UK). The campaign involving the refusal to pay the tax, together with resistance to warrant sales which local councils held to try to recoup the money, was ultimately successful and Sheridan became a popular political figure. However, Sheridan denounced those who fought the police in the large-scale riot against the poll tax in London - which took place on 31 March 1990, the day before the tax was introduced in England and Wales - and publicly threatened to "name names". The police widely advertised for people to tell them the names of alleged rioters, and partly as a result of police acting on such information, over 100 individuals were jailed. With Joan McAlpine, he published A Time to Rage which chronicled the anti-poll tax movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s. McAlpine has since written about the Sheridan she became close to during that turbulent youthful period, with reference in particular to the libel case.
As the highest profile Militant member in Scotland, Sheridan was a leading figure in the group's split in the early 1990s. Expelled from the Labour Party in 1989 he was emboldened by the success of the campaign against the poll tax; many Militant members - particularly in Scotland - argued for the abandonment of entryism and for the creation of Scottish Militant Labour and Militant Labour in England and Wales as separate political parties.
The argument was resolved when Sheridan and his supporters won a vote at a special conference held in Bridlington in October 1991, defeating the faction around Militant founder Ted Grant who argued against abandoning the Labour Party. The result was a split in the Militant in what has become known as the "Scottish Turn". Sheridan and Scottish Militant Labour enjoyed a brief success in its first few years. However, political developments in Scotland, with a strong nationalist party (SNP), and a feeling that the left could fill a demand for socialist politics caused in part by the rightward shift of New Labour, Scottish Militant Labour argued in favour of founding a new, left-wing political party. Discussions were held with other left-wing and Scottish republican groups and a new group was formed in 1996 known initially as the Scottish Socialist Alliance. In 1998, the new Scottish Socialist Party was formed from the SSA. Differences over political strategy and priorities within the CWI soon surfaced, especially on the issue of Scottish independence, leading to a split within the CWI and Sheridan along with the majority of Scottish supporters left the organisation.
Sheridan fought two elections while in prison, coming second in the Pollok constituency at the 1992 General Election, beating both the Conservatives and the Scottish National Party. A few weeks later he won the Pollok ward on Glasgow City Council. He contested the European Parliament election in 1994 as the SML candidate in Glasgow, and came third with 8% of votes cast.
He was the convenor of the SSP from its formation until 11 November 2004, when he resigned, citing as a prime reason his wife Gail expecting their first child. The resignation was steeped in controversy. After his announcement that he was stepping down for family reasons, the News of the World ran a series of articles, among other allegations claiming that he had had an extramarital affair. Sheridan strenuously denied the accusations and quickly announced his intention to sue.
The minutes of the meeting which detailed the deliberations leading to Sheridan's resignation were kept confidential until subpoenaed by News International. Alan McCombes was ordered to appear before judge Lady Smith at the Court of Session, Edinburgh, when he refused to release the minutes. He was jailed for 12 days, at which point the party agreed to hand over the minutes as part of the subsequent court case and were then made public. The minutes included a discussion about a recent article in the News of the World which alleged that a married MSP had visited a swingers' club in Manchester, and also the admission by Sheridan "that he had in fact visited the club on two occasions, in 1996 and 2002 with close friends. Some of those present at the meeting were later cited as witnesses for News International, to give evidence that they had heard Sheridan acknowledge he had been "reckless" in his behaviour which had, with hindsight, been "a mistake" and that "his strategy was to deny the allegations". Others present, notably Rosemary Byrne MSP, gave evidence that Sheridan had made no such statement. The minutes recorded that Sheridan left the meeting early, but before leaving, according to the minute, "he repeated that he did not believe there was any evidence which would prove him to be lying. He did not accept that he should admit the visits to the club and felt that no-one should comment on private lives". Sheridan claimed in court that the minute was not accurate and that he had denied visiting the swingers' club. Sheridan would later (December 2010) be convicted of perjury for lying during this court case.
At the annual conference of the SSP in early 2005 Sheridan was elected to the SSP executive and at the March 2006 conference he was elected as party co-chair. However Sheridan announced that he was leaving the SSP in August 2006, after his prominent court-case victory, accusing the SSP of being part of "the mother of all stitch ups" involving not only their leadership, but also MI5 and News International.
Sheridan stood as a candidate in the 2009 European Parliament elections for No to the EU – Yes to Democracy, a left-wing alter-globalisation coalition led by RMT union leader Bob Crow.
Hearings in Sheridan's defamation case against the publishers of the News of the World began in the Court of Session in Edinburgh on 4 July 2006. Unusually in Scottish civil proceedings, the case was heard before a jury.
The jury heard allegations that Sheridan had visited a swingers clubs in Manchester and engaged in adulterous affairs with two women. Sheridan, who claims to be a teetotaller, reportedly drank champagne and consumed cocaine during an extramarital liaison. Sheridan denies drinking the champagne and the claim of substance abuse. Eleven members of the SSP's executive committee testified that he admitted in an Executive committee meeting to attending a swingers club with women, but another four members of the SSP who were present at that Executive meeting backed Sheridan's claim that he made no such admission at that meeting.
On 14 July 2006, Sheridan sacked his legal team and announced that he would represent himself following controversy over the source of a question over credit card fraud addressed to one of the witnesses.
On 4 August 2006, Sheridan won his case with a majority verdict of 7 - 4 and the jury awarded him maximum damages of £200,000. The News of the World has appealed the verdict. In the Scottish Socialist Voice of 8 August, a letter signed by a further six leading members of the SSP claimed that Sheridan had told them that he had admitted at an SSP Executive meeting to attending the Manchester swingers club.
The News of the World announced its intention to appeal what they described as the "perverse" decision in the immediate aftermath of the trial, and a provisional date for the hearing was set for December 2007, however it was postponed until the procurator fiscal announced the outcome of the perjury probe.
On 26 August 2007, the Sunday Herald reported that John Lynn had been questioned by detectives about allegations of witness tampering. Lynn is reportedly an associate of Paul Ferris, a reformed criminal who has become friendly with Sheridan. The report said Helen Allison, who claimed in court that she saw Sheridan having sex in a Glasgow hotel, had been approached by Lynn who asked her not to give evidence. Lynn was once jailed for 17 years for shooting an Ulster barman.
The transcript, and excerpts from the tape, can be found on the News of the World website. The full legal implications of the tape remain to be seen.
Tommy Sheridan does not appear on the video at any time. The newspaper has not been able to produce any images from the video showing Sheridan's face and Sheridan says the video is a fake. He conceded his voice was on the tape but suggested it was "spliced" with clips of someone else's. The News of the World claimed four independent voice analysts had confirmed that the voice on the tape is Tommy Sheridan's. But in an interview with the BBC a forensic speech scientist, Peter French, said: "Experts should never say conclusively they have identified a person and this kind of evidence should never solely be used to bring a criminal trial".
Sheridan then suggested that MI5, some within the SSP and Rupert Murdoch had conspired to concoct the videotape to undermine his campaign for an independent socialist Scotland.
The conflicting evidence given during the trial resulted in the judge warning several witnesses about the implications of perjuring themselves. On Monday 7 August 2006, Lothian and Borders Police said they had received two complaints of perjury, one from the former Conservative MSP Brian Monteith, the other alleged to be from the SSP's minutes secretary.
On 22 August 2006, the Crown Office announced it had instructed the Edinburgh Procurators Fiscal office to ascertain if there were grounds for a criminal investigation, on 2 October 2006, it was concluded that there were and Lothian and Borders Police were instructed to start a criminal investigation. On 21 February 2007, The Herald reported that the Crown Office had asked Lothian and Borders Police to undertake a full inquiry after receiving a preliminary report.
In May 2007, it was reported that staff at Cupid's Swingers Club in Manchester had told police they had been offered bribes not to co-operate with the inquiry.
On 16 December 2007, Sheridan was charged with perjury in relation to the News of the World case. In a public statement outside the police station he attributed his arrest to the "powerful reach" of the Murdoch press. During February 2008, his wife Gail, former SSP MSP Rosemary Byrne, former members of the SSP Executive Committee, Patricia Smith, Graeme McIver, Jock Penman, and Sheridan's father-in-law, Angus Healey were also charged with perjury.
On 27 January 2009, Sheridan and his wife were indicted for perjury, and were summoned to attend a pre-trial hearing at Edinburgh High Court on 26 February. however this was postponed until 11 May.
The costs of the case up to the point where Sheridan was indicted had reached a minimum of £1.5 million.
This trial started at Glasgow High Court on 4 October 2010. Sheridan's initial defence team included Donald Findlay, who was replaced by Maggie Scott. However, a few weeks into the case, Sheridan instructed his Solicitor Aamer Anwar, who has defended him since 2007, to withdraw Scott's instructions. He was subsequently only represented by Anwar, while conducting the cross-examination himself.
On 23 December 2010 a jury found him guilty of perjury and on 26 January 2011 he was sentenced to 3 years in prison. His wife has promised there will be an appeal.
A campaign by Sheridan's supporters, 'Defend Tommy Sheridan' was launched, calling for answers into the nature of this investigation and the reasons behind it. The campaign has received widespread support and funding from individuals, political campaigners and civil rights activists, including high-profile left-wing politician George Galloway MP: John McManus, head of MOJO, the organisation which campaigns against miscarriages of justice: The Royle Family actor and left-wing political campaigner Ricky Tomlinson: Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six: Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four: Singers Paul Heaton (Beautiful South) and Edwyn Collins. Leading trade unionists Bob Crow (RMT), Janice Godrich (PCS), Kenny Ross (FBU) all support the campaign.
On 21 February 2008, The Daily Telegraph columnist Alan Cochrane questioned the treatment of the Sheridans by the police and claimed that his view was shared by "Senior members of Scotland's legal fraternity, including some with the closest of links to the Scottish Executive".
In June 2008 a packed rally of the Defend Tommy Sheridan Campaign, heard speeches from Paddy Hill convicted on fabricated police evidence and jailed for 17 years for bombing pubs in Birmingham and Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four, another who was framed by police officers and spent 15 years in jail for a crime he did not committ. Fire Brigades Union leader Kenny Ross and other speakers attacked the motives for the investigation, questioned the role of the police and Crown Office and slammed the witnesses who had stood against Tommy Sheridan in the original hearing.
On 11 February 2009, Scottish law magazine The Firm claimed that Police had put "incredible pressure' on the Crown Office to proceed with a case against Gail and Tommy Sheridan. Lothian and Borders Police and the Crown Office deny the claims.
Initially he was held in Barlinnie prison in Glasgow, but after several weeks he was moved to a semi-open wing in Barlinnie, and on 21 June he was moved to Castle Huntly open prison. He could be released with an electronic tag as early as October.
A complaint submitted to Strathclyde Police in July 2011 lead to Operation Rubicon, a major investigation involving 50 officers investigating allegations of phone hacking, breach of data protection and perjury by News of the World.
Category:Solidarity MSPs Category:People from Glasgow Category:Leaders of political parties in Scotland Category:Scottish Socialist Party MSPs Category:Alumni of the University of Stirling Category:Militant tendency supporters Category:Big Brother UK contestants Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Scottish perjurors Category:Prisoners and detainees of Scotland Category:Scottish politicians convicted of crimes Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Category:Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Category:People educated at Lourdes Secondary School
fr:Tommy Sheridan nl:Tommy SheridanThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
The World News (WN) Network, has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to user privacy. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for wn.com, as well as e-mail newsletters.
We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you submit an inquiry to us or sign up for our newsletter, you may be asked to provide certain information such as your contact details (name, e-mail address, mailing address, etc.).
When you submit your personally identifiable information through wn.com, you are giving your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. If you would prefer that we not collect any personally identifiable information from you, please do not provide us with any such information. We will not sell or rent your personally identifiable information to third parties without your consent, except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy.
Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will use the information you provide us only for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or in connection with the service for which you provided such information. We may forward your contact information and inquiry to our affiliates and other divisions of our company that we feel can best address your inquiry or provide you with the requested service. We may also use the information you provide in aggregate form for internal business purposes, such as generating statistics and developing marketing plans. We may share or transfer such non-personally identifiable information with or to our affiliates, licensees, agents and partners.
We may retain other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Such third parties may be provided with access to personally identifiable information needed to perform their functions, but may not use such information for any other purpose.
In addition, we may disclose any information, including personally identifiable information, we deem necessary, in our sole discretion, to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal proceeding or governmental request.
We do not want you to receive unwanted e-mail from us. We try to make it easy to opt-out of any service you have asked to receive. If you sign-up to our e-mail newsletters we do not sell, exchange or give your e-mail address to a third party.
E-mail addresses are collected via the wn.com web site. Users have to physically opt-in to receive the wn.com newsletter and a verification e-mail is sent. wn.com is clearly and conspicuously named at the point of
collection.If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter and promotional communications, you may opt-out of receiving them by following the instructions included in each newsletter or communication or by e-mailing us at michaelw(at)wn.com
The security of your personal information is important to us. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during registration and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100 percent secure, however. Therefore, though we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
If we decide to change our e-mail practices, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, the homepage, and other places we think appropriate so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.
If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.
The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.
As we continue to develop our business, we might sell certain aspects of our entities or assets. In such transactions, user information, including personally identifiable information, generally is one of the transferred business assets, and by submitting your personal information on Wn.com you agree that your data may be transferred to such parties in these circumstances.