Donate to Links


Click on Links masthead to clear previous query from search box

GLW Radio on 3CR





Syndicate

Syndicate content
Home

Scottish Socialist Party

Scotland: Colin Fox on the RISE left alliance's launch and platform

Click for more on left politics in Scotland

August 25, 2015 -- STV News, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- On August 29 in Glasgow we will see the birth of a Rise, a new left wing anti-austerity movement designed to shake up Scotland's political establishment and win seats at next year's Holyrood elections.

Born out of the referendum campaign using an umbrella model based on SYRIZA in Greece, the alliance brings together activists from different left-wing strands on a platform spelled out by its name: Respect, Independence, Socialism, Enviromentalism.

The group's website carries a statement of intent, which reads: "There is a need for something truly new and original to be born out of the independence movement that can manifest itself at the ballot box in 2016 and beyond. We do not presume to have all of the answers, but we intend to start a conversation around certain core principles that must be represented in politics once more.

RISE: Scotland's new left alliance to launch

Click for more on left politics in Scotland

New political force will launch on August 29

August 24, 2015 -- Scottish Left Project, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- We are pleased to announce the name under which the new coalition of the left being launched on August 29 will stand. Our name -- RISE, Scotland's Left Alliance -- reflects our political outlook and organisational make-up.

Respect: We stand for a society where we end racism, sexism, discrimination on the grounds of sexuality and where people of all backgrounds, colours and creeds are treated with respect and dignity.

Independence: We stand for Independence for Scotland. But our Independence is based on ending neoliberalism, austerity and the membership of NATO. We are for ending the monarchy and putting people in charge.

Socialism: We are for a social alternative to capitalism where people run the affairs of our society democratically and where the vast resources of society are utilised in common, rather than for the super-rich.

Scottish Socialist Party to affiliate with new left alliance

By the Scottish Socialist Party,

August 8, 2015 -- Scottish Socialist Party, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Scottish Socialist  Party (SSP) National Council members have voted in favour of the party becoming an affiliate of a new electoral alliance for the Scottish elections next year.

Party co-spokesperson Sandra Webster highlighted the potential for socialism to grow in this alliance.

At our NC ... the comrades present voted to enter an alliance with the soon to be renamed Scottish Left Project. All of our comrades should be proud of their passionate discussion and resolution. The SSP look forward to being at the heart of the alliance hoping socialists may be elected to Holyrood in 2016. I look forward to continuing to build the SSP and building a movement that is truly grassroots.

Greece: Astonishing and resounding 'Oxi' (No) to EU austerity

Democracy Now! on July 6, 2015, reports on the Greek rejection of austerity.

For more analysis and discussion on SYRIZA's struggle against austerity, click HERE

By Colin Fox

July 5, 2015 -- Colin Fox, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- So much for it being a close vote! The Greek people today delivered a resounding blow to the European Central Bank's plan to implement further hardship and austerity on the Greek people.

More than 61.3% of Greeks voted "No" (38.69% voted Yes). This represents a huge success for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and an extraordinary vindication of the SYRIZA government and its record since January 25th. Despite falling living standards and increased hardship, epitomised by the enforced "bank holiday" this week which restricted customers to €60 per day, the Greek people have again resoundingly backed their radical left-wing government.

Scottish politics after May 7 Westminster general election

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.

Click for more on left politics in Scotland

By Murray Smith

June 4, 2015 – International Viewpoint, submitted to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal by the author -- The day after the May 7 Westminster [British] general election, George Kerevan, newly elected Scottish National Party MP for East Lothian, was walking through his constituency. He was approached by a group of young working-class women who recognised him, proudly declared that they had all voted SNP and wanted to take “selfies” with him. When Kerevan asked why, they replied “because this is history”.

They were of course right. The day before the SNP had taken 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland, leaving the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour parties with one each.

Scotland: Left Project welcomes SSP support for a new left electoral alliance

SSP national co-spokesperson Colin Fox.

May 25, 2015 -- Scottish Left Project, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The Scottish Left Project welcomes the motion passed at the Scottish Socialist Party annual conference calling for a new left electoral alliance in time for the 2016 Holyrood [Scottish] elections.

Colin Fox, SSP national co-spokesperson said:

The Scottish Socialist Party believes the Scottish Left Project electoral alliance has great potential and we want to help harvest that potential. We bring our experience and expertise as a party, one that has fought all four previous Holyrood elections, with us. And we look forward to meeting our partners in the Left Project in the next few days to see what progress can now be made towards advancing our shared political goals.

Antonio Gramsci: Why alliances for socialism must be built

gramsci book
Antonio Gramsci – A Great and Terrible World: The Pre-Prison Letters, 1908-1926
Edited and translated by Derek Boothman
Lawrence & Wishart

For more discussion on the ideas of Antonio Gramsci, click HERE

By Bill Bonnar

April 30, 2015 -- Scottish Socialist Voice, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The recently published book on Gramsci’s early political writings, A Great and Terrible World, is a timely reminder of the tremendous contribution Antonio Gramsci made to socialist ideas in the 20th century.

Born in Sardinia in 1891, he was one of the founders and leaders of the Italian Communist Party until his untimely death in 1937. Despite crippling ill health and eight years spent in a fascist prison, his contribution to the theory and practice of socialism marked him out as one of the great Marxist thinkers of his time.

Scottish socialists: UK election a 'bitter-sweet' result

By Colin Fox

May 11, 2015 -- Scottish Socialist Party, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- In the end the polls got it wrong, badly wrong. And all the commentators who placed so much faith in them looked foolish. There was no hung parliament. No horse trading between Westminster parties, no weeks of instability before a coalition government was formed. The Tories thumped Labour and won a clear majority.

Why Scottish votes will be decisive in the outcome of the UK general election

Rally for A Just Scotland. October 18, 2014.

By Alister Black, Edinburgh

May 4, 2015 -- Green Left Weekly, posted at Links International journal of Socialist Renewal -- Britain's May 7 general election is set to be the closest in living memory. In the polls, the two leading parties, Labour and the Conservatives (Tories), are within points of each other. The polls have not shifted despite the best efforts of Tory Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband to secure a breakthrough.

Why are the polls so close?

Scottish Socialist Party launches 2015 manifesto

defy_the_bedroom_tax

April 16, 2015 -- Scottish Socialist Party, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- A commitment to a £10 an hour minimum living wage for all, defiance of austerity and the eradication of insecure zero-hour contracts are at the heart of the Scottish Socialist Party’s manifesto, launched today at the Augustine Church in Edinburgh.

On the demand for a £10 an hour living wage, to be implemented immediately:

“The other parties contesting these elections may cry crocodile tears about this widening divergence in earnings between working people and their bosses but they stand full square behind the neoliberal economic system that manufactures such inequalities.  A competitive, modern Scottish economy cannot be constructed on slave wages.”

Other measures proposed include vastly expanded carer rights:

Review: Why Scotland will never be the same again

The People’s Referendum: Why Scotland Will Never Be the Same Again
by Paul Geoghegan
Luath Press 2015
177 pages

Review by Alex Miller

April 16, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The UK-wide general election for the Westminster parliament scheduled for May 7, 2015, looks set to be a very close, perhaps even closer than the 2010 election that resulted in the Labour Party being replaced by a Conservative Party-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

How should leftwingers in Scotland vote in the UK general election?

April 14, 2015 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The following articles were published in the April issue #86 of the Scottish Left Review, as part of a round-up of the various positions being proposed by sections of the Scottish left to advance a left agenda during and after the British general election to be held on May 7, 2015.

 

Scottish independence: when, not if -- how Westminster lost Scotland

Disunited Kingdom: How Westminster Won a Referendum but Lost Scotland
By Iain MacWhirter
Cargo Publishing, 2014,
174 pages

Review by Alex Miller

February 4, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The independence referendum on September 18, 2014, has been hailed by many as the most important single event in the recent history of Scotland.

Scotland: A new world for Scottish politics after the referendum

The Radical Independence Campaign conference after the referendum, on November 22, 2014, drew 3000 and demonstrated that spirits had not dimmed since the vote.

For more on Scotland and independence, click HERE.

By Alister Black

January 25, 2015 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- As Scots gathered together at Christmas and Hogmanay last year conversations turned inevitably to politics. Most were agreed that the year ahead would be a very interesting one. The impact of the independence referendum vote on September 18, 2014, is still being felt throughout Scottish society, and that impact is reverberating across the UK state as well.

Colin Fox: 'SYRIZA’s victory will be loudly cheered by working people in Scotland'

Click HERE for more on SYRIZA and the election in Greece.

September 23, 2015 -- Stokokkino.gr, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Scotland is also in the grip of austerity today says Colin Fox, leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (pictured).

"Scotland is also in the grip of austerity today. The right-wing Conservative Party/Liberal Democrat coalition government in London have attacked the standard of living of working-class people. They have cut public spending on our health, education and social services by many billions of pounds. Britain also has unprecedented levels of debt as a result of bailing out greedy, reckless private banks with huge sums of public money.

"While our economic and social conditions have not declined as badly as Greece, working-class people are nonetheless struggling to maintain their living standards. The average family is £50 per week [or 70 euros/week] worse off today compared to 2008. And this despite our economy returning to growth, albeit weak growth. People in Scotland are angry at the London government for making workers families pay for a financial and economic crisis the bankers in the City of London caused.

Scotland: Labour Party leadership vote confirms entrenched right-wing politics, opens way for left

Jim Murphy campaigns against independence for Scotland.

For more on Scotland and independence, click HERE.

By Ken Ferguson

December 13, 2014 -- Scottish Left Project, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- The election of arch Blairite Jim Murphy – by a 20% margin – as Scottish Labour Party leader is surely final confirmation that the former working-class party is now a wholly owned tool of the Westminster establishment and its role as servants of the neoliberal speculation policies of the City of London.

That Labour Party members elected Murphy in the belief that he is the new Messiah tells us just how out of touch with Scottish opinion both they and their party have become.

Faced with the mass radicalisation and ferment of progressive ideas developed by the Yes campaign, which has gone way beyond the independence issue into areas as diverse as land reform, poverty pay and building a just sustainable Scotland they repeated their September reaction and said No thanks.

Escocia: El Partido Socialista Escocés después del referéndum

[English at http://links.org.au/node/4123.]

Por Dick Nichols

12 de noviembre de 2014 -- Viento Sur -- La iglesia Augustine United Church de Edimburgo es un lugar frío cuando sopla el viento, como era el caso cuando el Partido Socialista Escocés (Scottish Socialist Party, SSP) celebró su conferencia anual de 2014 el pasado 25 de octubre.

Sin embargo, el ambiente se caldeó cuando los más de 200 miembros presentes del SSP pasaron a abordar los retos que plantea un vibrante nuevo periodo que se ha abierto en la política escocesa, marcado por una implicación popular sin precedentes en el activismo y el debate sobre el futuro de Escocia. Esta fase comenzó con la derrota de los defensores del “Sí” por un 55 % contra un 45 % en el referéndum por la independencia del 18 de septiembre. El efecto más sorprendente de esa victoria para el establishment del Reino Unido es el hecho de que el “victorioso” Partido Laborista Escocés, el principal partido impulsor de la campaña “Better Together” (“Mejor juntos”) contra la independencia, está ahora en crisis.

Scotland: Socialists call for ‘independence alliance’

SSP spokesperson Colin Fox.

For more on Scotland and independence, click HERE.

By Ken Ferguson

November 11, 2014 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) national spokesperson Colin Fox has written to Scottish National Party (SNP) leader elect Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie inviting them to support “Independence Alliance” candidates from the Yes campaign in the 2015 Westminster general election.

In his letter, he wrote:

Scotland: Labour for Independence founder Allan Grogan joins Scottish Socialist Party

Allan Grogan addresses a pro-independence march and rally in Edinburgh, 2013.

For more on Scotland and independence, click HERE.

By Allan Grogan, founder Labour for Independence

October 27, 2014 -- Real Labour Values, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- This past Saturday I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received by my new comrades at the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) conference in Edinburgh. I made the comment to someone throughout the day that it was so nice to see members of a political party enjoying each others company, respectfully debating issues and uniting in the common good of the people they have set out to represent.

I am delighted to have joined the SSP at a time of great importance within the party. I believe we stand at a crossroads in which we have seen a rejuvenation in not only the party but also what it stands for.

Spirited Scottish Socialist Party conference tackles post-referendum challenges

The Scottish Socialist Party played an important role in the Yes campaign. This video explores the aftermath for the party and the future of Scotland.

For more on the Scottish Socialist Party, click HERE.

By Dick Nichols

October 29, 2014 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- Edinburgh’s Augustine United Church is a cold place when the wind is howling, as it was when the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) held its 2014 annual conference there on October 25.

However, any feeling of chill disappeared when the 200-plus SSP members present got down to tackling the challenges of an inspiring new period in Scottish politics, marked by unprecedented popular engagement in activism and debate over Scotland’s future.

12345next ›last »
Syndicate content

Powered by Drupal - Design by Artinet