Gerry Fitzpatrick (Socialist Resistance), provides a personal memoir of the evolution of ‘Red Ken’ the first celebrity socialist. Today he has betrayed the Black, Irish and socialist activists who battled against the ‘Met’ – the corrupt police force ‘Red Ken’ now defends. Some years ago in the early 1970s – it seems a very long…
Cartoon
Respect Split
Ed Walsh, (Irish Socialist Network) gives his personal views on the recent split in Respect Originally printed at http://www.irishsocialist.net The British Left has now experienced two acrimonious splits in the space of eighteen months. After the grim transformation of the Scottish Socialist Party into two bitterly-divided camps (The SSP split has been covered in back…
Prospects For Socialists In Scotland
Allan Armstrong interviews Alan McCombes, a key influence on the theoretical direction of the SSP and a member of the SSP national executive. He gives us his views on Salmond’s SNP government, the future prospects for socialist unity, and the SSP’s constitutional conference. How do you assess the current situation with the new SNP government?…
The Role Of Platforms In The SSP
Platforms, tendencies, factions – call them what you will – exist in all organisations, not just in political parties. Sometimes they are suppressed (by the controlling and usually undeclared, leadership faction, of course), sometimes they are tolerated and occasionally they are welcomed. This article argues that not only are platforms inevitable, but that they are…
SSP – Learning The Lessons
As the SSP’s 2008 conference approaches, our party is still feeling the effects of the long running perjury investigations and charges linked to the libel trial brought by Tommy Sheridan against the News of the World. The reality is whatever the outcome of any future court case, the fight for socialism has not been made…
Republican Socialist Convention
There is a http://www.scottishsocialistparty.co.uk/republicansocialist Section on the SSP website on the Republican Socialist Convention. The agenda is still to be confirmed so watch that page for details. The page also contains links to the motion which led to the convention taking place and an article on it. Link is now dead and does not appear…
James Connolly
Still An Inspiration Today Today we march to commemorate the 90th anniversary of James Connolly’s death on Friday, 12th May, 1916, at Kilmainham Jail in Dublin. Although severely wounded, Connolly was shot by a British firing squad after being tied to a chair. In the face of rising political pressure, to at least delay his…
The Republican Communist Network Welcomes The Formation Of The SSP United Left
Shared values and concerns The RCN welcomes the formation of the new SSP-UL platform. The SSP United Left Statement (June 9th, 2006) makes a number of important points with which we are in agreement. The SSP, since its inception, has been a beacon of hope to the workers’ movement in Scotland and internationally. We also…
The State, The Crisis In The SSP And The Republican Response
Life for socialists and anti-imperialists is never easy – the bosses, the media and the state ensure that. However, some injuries can be self-inflicted. The current, very public spat inside the SSP highlights the relative weakness of forces with the experience and methods needed to combat what is clearly an orchestrated media attack on the…