[Marxism] Tommy Sheridan's Open Letter To SSP Membership

[Jscotlive@xxxxxxx]

FROM TOMMY SHERIDAN
YES to class solidarity and socialist unity;

NO to political
witch-hunts and personal character assassinations:
Comrades I write this letter with a very heavy heart. The Party
I have invested so much time and energy to build from scratch
has displayed serious signs of internal decay over the last 18
months. Alongside many other comrades we sought to build a class
based socialist party, able to appeal to the broad masses of
Scotland around the political principals of struggle, solidarity
and socialism. Today there exists an unsavoury cabal of comrades
at the core of the leadership, their hands on the apparatus, who
are more interested in pursuing personal vendetta's, through
vile lies and slander, than conducting the class struggle.
Over the last two weeks I have resisted any public comment,
despite the clear and consistent strategy of politically
isolating me in the press, and attempting to implicate me as the
culprit for the current News Of The World and bourgeois court
led attempts to destroy us. Yet who is responsible for the mess
we are in?
Who decided that our party should examine and discuss the
private lives of comrades at meetings? Who decided that any such
confidential discussions should be recorded? Who decided to keep
secret copies of such private and confidential discussions? Who
decided to deliberately leak to the press and media that such a
document existed? Who decided to appear in court and admit to
the existence of such a secret document? The section of our EC
who promoted and executed this strategy are clearly to blame for
the political crisis we now find ourselves in. It has been a
strategy alien to the socialist and trade union movement and
more akin to the dark days of Stalinism. Apparently the secret
document contains personal information about myself.
Imagine an employer held such a document about an employee. The
employee would have the basic human right to see such a
document, challenge the content of such a document and demand a
copy of such a document. Up until two weeks ago I had never seen
the document. I have still never read it and I am denied the
right to challenge it or hold a copy. We have acted like a bad
employer and breeched basic human rights and trade union
principals.
Let me state clearly. There should never have been a meeting
convened to discuss a members private life, which was the
secretly recorded and documented without the knowledge of the
individual, their cooperation or their right to challenge the
accuracy of such a document being denied. It is simply an
outrageous practice, outwith the spirit and principals on which
we were founded. However, now that such a disputable document
has been constructed, concealed from the individual concerned,
constantly leaked to the media and admitted to in court, I
BBLIE^I! IT SHOULD BE HANDED TO THE COURT TO TRIGGER THE RELEASE
OF ALAN McCOOMBES. I believe that Alan and a core group of 7 or
8 other leading comrades have misled the party into their current
quandary, but I salute his courage and determination to
resist the undemocratic power of unelected judges to interfere
in the internal affairs of democratic political parties. The
problem is that we cooperated with the courts in the first
place. I t is none of their business whether we possess
recordings of meetings or not.
They should have been properly defied in the first place and the
party removed from a personal libel action against the most
reactionary scab outfit in the world. Instead we have been
dragged into that case because of the mis-leadership and the
desperate attempts of the scum of the world to salvage a case
which had all but disintegrated due to their downright lies. Now
a comrade is in jail and our resistance to the disgraceful and
undemocratic interference of unelected judges has been
displayed. He must languish in jail no longer. The document in
question should be handed to the court under protest, submitted
to the court in a sealed envelope and debated over under protest
or handed to the court via my legal team under protest. Further
resistance at the expense of a comrade's personal freedom is not
acceptable.
Make No mistake, The Scum of the World's attack on me and our
party is an extension of the class struggle. They are our mortal
enemy. They want to destroy me, the party, and more importantly,
what we stand for. They are bullies of the gigantic type. They
seek to destroy trade unions,socialist ideas, class solidarity
and individuals through callous lies and distortion. I refuse to
bend the knee to their assault on me. They have spread cruel
lies knowingly and in a fashion calculated to discredit me as an
individual and as a socialist. The four year affair they have
accused me of is a complete fabrication. I expect such slander
from these organs of the state because they are the scum of the
planet. But what about the political witch-hunt conducted via
vile personal lies promoted by leading SSP members?
Over The last 18 months I have been accused of heinous crimes in
a co-ordinated fashion by a group of comrades so blinded by
their personal hatred and spite towards me that they have failed
to see the enormous damage to the party. In the Brel(?) Bar in
Ashton Lane just over 12 months ago one of the three female MSP
comrades who have consistently sought to undermine me and
discredit me, accused me of "being involved in woman
trafficking". "Eastern European women" to be precise. Here
devastating lies were witnessed by three individuals, one of
whom is a journalist in a Sunday newspaper.
At a youth event last year, several members spread poison to the
effect that I "regularly used prostitutes". According to
comrades picking up stories on the pub/club and party circuit I
"regularly go to lap-dancing bars". I am also apparently
involved in "drug dealing". All of these stories have been
checked by me through several sources, not all friends or
supporters of mine. My name, political credibility and status
within our party has been consciously attacked. Talk of how to
"get rid of me", "arrange my deselection" and "isolate him
completely" is commonplace and coordinated.
Over The last 18 months I have sought to build unity in our
party, internally and externally. Others have sought to destroy
me and build their own empires. Those with their hands on
communications within and outside the party have acted as an
undeclared faction. Certain individuals are promoted while
others are ignored or discredited. I am not the only one.
Comrade Hugh Kerr was guilty of giving up six years of his time
to build our party, 4 years as my unpaid press officer, his face
didn't fit. He was rounded on and removed. Comrade Rosemary
Byrne thought her election in 2003 would herald a new dawn for
socialist politics. She was not "on message". She didn't support
the 50:50 campaign. She believes class politics and identity are
more of a priority than gender politics. She was ignored, cold
shouldered and isolated for months. She was forced to consider
quitting. Now she's fighting back!
Comrade Mick Daly, the West of Scotland organiser, was guilty of
inexperience, and not being part of the "Stanley St. grouping".
He was isolated and undermined, his face didn't fit. His
resignation was sought after and keenly encouraged. I should
have done more to defend all these comrades. I let them down. I
myself was faced with a stark ultimatum 18 months ago. Accept
and support the EC position that I should step down or be
responsible for an internal civil war. I chose the unity option.
I was wrong. Sections of the EC saw it as a sign of weakness and
have sought to undermine me ever since. From the day a group of
socialists were asked if they backed me in my court battle with
the reactionary, rabid and anti-trade union Scum of the World,
and publicly declined, to the recent public undermining of my
case through issuing a public call for me to drop my case, this
party has shamefully failed a basic socialist test. Whose side
are you on when a socialist takes on the Murdoch empire?
Sections of the EC are clearly batting for the wrong side. That
is unforgivable in the eyes of large sections of our class and
the left across the world.
Recently things have got even worse. Comrades, yes comrades have
been phoning around Cardonald branch members to gather
information about who attended the recent meetings, who spoke on
the recent motion that was passed, who voted in the meeting?
WHY? For who is such information being gathered? It is to assist
the State in ant action against the branch for daring to suggest
that no records of private and confidential discussions should
exist. Who told the Herald newspaper that Alice Sheridan was a
"member of the Cardonald branch." She has only recently moved to
Cardonald in the last three months. She has only been well
enough to attend meetings recently after 10 days in hospital
with a blood clot. Most comrades would recall her as a Pollock
branch member from recent conferences. So who "stuck her in'"?
Members of this party are effectively acting for the state. That
is a disgrace.
Despite The motivations of those in the undeclared faction who
want me out of the SSP and deselected as a Glasgow MSP, I refuse
to leave. The SSP is my party. It's internal regime should be
warm, friendly and trusting. Not revolve around personal spite,
secret documents and personal character assassinations.

  4.
Its outward appearance should be to the broad mass seeking
solutions to the horrible insecurities, grotesque inequalities,
grinding poverty and bloody wars of capitalism. We are a class
based socialist party. Not a gender obsessed discussion group.
Our socialist principals and class identity defines us first.
Not our gender or sexual orientation. Engaging with the broad
mass of Scotland around real issues of concern has to be our
strategy. From council tax abolition to free school meals.
Scrapping prescription charges to promoting public ownership.
Anti-war and defending asylum seeker campaigns to solidarity
with all workers in struggle and independence. This is the
future strategy and orientation of the real SSP. Not the
McCarthyite obsession with members private lives and circles of
friends. Lets build a united SSP, yes. But on solid foundations,
not the bile and decay around those who promote personal
dislikes before politics. The battle to reclaim the SSP to class
politics begins today.
Tommy Sheridan: 28th May 2006



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