August 2006 All-Members’ Bulletin crisis in the party the fight for the truth
For 20 months the party has not put in writing the sit- JULY 2006 and Israel has launched a uation regarding Tommy Sheridan’s resignation as series of murderous air attacks against national convener. Lebanon. Rivers of blood continue to flow through the streets of Baghdad and Now the court case is over, Alan McCombes, national other Iraqi cities. policy and press coordinator, has prepared this article In Afghanistan the Taliban is back in to ensure that party members hear the true situation business. In Africa, one year after the from the party. extravagant promises of the G8 leaders to Along with this members’ bulletin, you will find a copy end world poverty, nothing has changed of the Executive Committee minutes of 9 November for the poorest people of the planet. 2004. At the end of this meeting there were 19 people In the UK, the Blair government has in attendance who all agreed that Tommy should be swung so far to the right that even the asked to resign. The following members, who were at Tory Party has given up trying to com- the meeting can verify that Tommy admmitted to pete. The Lib Dems, under new leader, Menzies Campbell, are going nowhere. attending Cupids Club in Manchester and that he In Scotland, the old order is crumbling. intended to lie about this: Carolyn Leckie, Jo Harvie, Polls show there is now a pro-independ- Felicity Garvie, Colin Fox, Catriona Grant, Rosie Kane, ence majority in Scotland. The SNP look Keith Baldassara’ Allan Green, Frances Curran, Richie set to become the biggest party at Venton, Steven Nimmo, Alan McCombes, Barbara Holyrood after 2007. The break-up of the Scott, Allison Kane and Kevin McVey. British state looks a more realistic prospect than at any time in the past 300 years. By rights, the SSP should now be Tommy Sheridan is today £200,000 venor of the SSP. preparing to emerge as a major force in richer. His reputation as a clean-cut, On the face of it, and from a distance, Scottish politics. But instead of looking whiter-than-white pillar of decency has this might appear like a victory for the forward to spectacular advances in next been restored by seven people on a jury in SSP and for socialism. But there was no year's Holyrood and council elections, the Edinburgh. His halo back in place, possible outcome of this trial that could party is now on the brink of destruction. Tommy has declared his return as con- have had anything other than disastrous a decade later. Tommy was an ment that his reputation had to consequences for the SSP and bomb who could be blown up outstanding figurehead for the be defended at all costs, by the cause of socialism in at any time in the future. SSP, eloquently promoting the whatever means necessary, Scotland. The trial could even There is no question that cause of an independent including lying, deception, spell the death knell for a party individual leaders can at times socialist Scotland, as well as fraud and character assassina- which was founded on clean play a decisive role in politics. range of specific policies. tion. socialist principles. It could set Nor is there any disputing the But neither the anti-Poll Tax Star-struck by fame and back the cause of socialism by charisma and talent of Tommy movement, Scottish Militant celebrity, they have elevated years if not decades. Sheridan, whose media and Labour, the Scottish Socialist Tommy Sheridan into a super- In order to win his case, oratorical skills were vital in Alliance nor the SSP were ever hero whose public image is so Tommy Sheridan openly establishing the SSP as a cred- one-man bands. Many people important to the future of denounced 11 honourable men ible force in Scottish politics. played a less visible, but simi- socialism that it is legitimate to and women from the SSP, who However, every individual larly vital role in developing destroy the reputations and the have between them centuries has strengths and weaknesses, the influence, the structures, privacy of many others to pro- of political struggle behind qualities and flaws. There are the strategy, and the politics of tect that fake image. In them, as perjurers. These peo- times when the strengths and the SSP. essence, it is the Orwellian ple, he declared, were respon- qualities of individuals prevail, Tommy was essentially the notion that some are more sible for the "mother of all but then new circumstances front man for socialism in equal than others. stitch-ups". arise - and the weaknesses and Scotland, the talented striker It is an elitist and politically Whatever the intentions of flaws are propelled to the fore. of the movement. But without corrupt philosophy. It flows the Court of Session jury, these It is a tragic fact that individ- the midfielders, the defenders, from an almost childlike belief 11 people, and others, now uals who have played an out- the coach, the goalkeeper, that the destiny of socialism in stand condemned as perpetra- standing role in the socialist Tommy could have achieved Scotland rests entirely on the tors of a monstrous political movement can end up playing nothing. shoulders of one charismatic crime. We are also accused - an obstructive and even Nonetheless, it is also true personality. and in effect have been found destructive role. Derek Hatton, that his talents were indispen- Yes, Tommy Sheridan had guilty - of serious criminal for example, was a talented sable in putting the SSP on the come to personify the SSP in charges which could lead to and charismatic figurehead of political map of Scotland. His the public eye. It is precisely long term prison sentences. the Liverpool City Council oratorical powers and media for that reason that his behav- Those accused cannot struggle against Thatcher in skills were harnessed to pow- iour was reckless to the point remain silent, because to say the 1980s. Later, as the strug- erful effect, particularly of irresponsibility. His actions nothing would be an admis- gle subsided, Derek's personal between 1999 and 2003 when and subsequent court case sion of guilt. We now have no and political weakness caused Tommy was the sole Scottish have seriously undermined the option but to fight to clear our problems for the socialist left, Socialist MSP. toil and sweat of thousands of name. And to clear our name, to the point where a breach Yet there is a fatal dividing others who have invested vast we need to bring out every rel- became inevitable. Derek is line between utilising charis- amounts of time, effort and evant piece of information. now a successful DJ in his ma and descending into the money over the years to create From a scratch to the danger native city. corrupt cult of the Great a credible socialist party in of gangrene, says an old For a period of time in the Leader. It is ironic that plat- Scotland. proverb. The nightmare that mid-1980s and into the 1990s, forms that claim to stand on But those who fear that has engulfed the SSP in recent Arthur Scargill was the hero of the traditions of anti-Stalinism without Tommy Sheridan months began with a few mun- Britain's mining communities and Trotskyism have been the Scottish socialism is dead in dane lies. But over weeks and and the scourge of the political most abject in their adherence the water are profoundly mis- months, the deception escalat- establishment. Thousands to the philosophy of "my taken. They have swallowed ed out of control. Tommy would pack meetings the leader right or wrong". hook, line and sinker the cyni- Sheridan might today be length and breadth of the UK In what can only be inter- cal and superficial analysis of hailed as a hero by sections of to hear his powerful oratory. preted as a desperate bidding those mainstream political the media. Yet today the man who once war to ingratiate themselves to commentators who cannot So too was Jeffrey Archer inspired millions presides over Tommy Sheridan, the two conceive that tens of thou- when he won his defamation a burnt-out sect of a political London-controlled platforms sands of people in Scotland case back in 1987. But Archer party, a cult based around his in the party, the SW and the vote SSP because they actually was eventually exposed as a increasing egotistical person- CWI platform jostled with support the politics of social- liar, a fraud and forger. ality. each other to win Tommy's ism. Tommy Sheridan may well Whatever may have hap- favour to the point where they Clearly, Tommy has been a be re-elected as convenor of pened over the past few years, became putty in his hands. key figurehead of the move- the SSP. That's up to the mem- Tommy Sheridan deserves Taking as their starting point ment and a powerful messen- bership. That is democracy. recognition for the outstanding the fact that Tommy has been a ger. But it is patronising and But voters, like juries, make historical role he has played, popular public leader, these insulting to the 150,000 plus mistakes. The brutal fact of the from the Poll Tax battles of the two groups, plus others, decid- people who have voted for the matter is that Tommy Sheridan late '80s and early '90s through ed his standing was so indis- SSP over the years to write is now a walking, talking time- to electoral success of the SSP pensable to the socialist move- them off as nothing more than
2 a Tommy Sheridan fan club. that his position had to be Low paid workers, young defended come hell or high extracted from broken individ- ment over a period of time is people, pensioners, students, water. uals. The cultural elite had fundamentally wrong." council tenants, lone parents One local leader traced the been mesmerised by the power Over the next few years, the and others who are engaged in roots of the Brazilian Workers and charisma of Stalin, and SWP's analysis was proven to a daily struggle to get by tend Party crisis back to the party's were convinced he was the be "fundamentally wrong". So to take politics more seriously infatuation with their leader: only hope for socialism. They successful was the SSP project than they would a Big Brother "Its midnight and Lula says: believed what they wanted to that by 2001, even the SWP, or Pop Idol vote. Their politi- 'look at the sun'. Everyone believe. the most inveterate opponents cal allegiance is not a fashion around him says: 'Yes look at In comparison to these of socialist unity, had climbed choice. And for the mass of the sun'. Then someone says: events, the troubles of the SSP on board the rolling bandwag- SSP voters the message is big- 'But its midnight - there is no are trivial and the behaviour of on. ger than the messenger. sun' and they're treated as the Tommy Sheridan petty and From the beginning, there The Sheridan versus News enemy within." pathetic. Yet events in the SSP have been substantial political Group libel case has opened up That has been the psycholo- in the past few months have differences within the SSP. a sharp divide within the party, gy of some sections of the SSP revealed a glimpse of the same There have been robust, even that is indisputable. The in recent months. Some party psychological processes that in heated debates over Scottish divide, contrary to the simplis- members have believed the past, under much more independence, gender equality, tic demagogy of Tommy is not Tommy and supported Tommy grave conditions, led to tyran- crime and drugs policy - with- about whether we should stand because they want to believe in ny. out any remote threat to the on the side of a socialist, or on a Messiah. unity of the party. the side of Rupert Murdoch. A few years ago, the CWI WHEN THE SSP was Yet in the past few months, Nor is this a divide over pol- issued a press release founded in 1998, many on the the SSP has been brought close icy. It is a divide between denouncing Tommy Sheridan left, particularly in England, to the abyss, not by political those on one side who believe as a "neo-Stalinist" because of predicted that the party could differences, but by a court case in the primacy of politics and his support for Cuba. This was never be sustained as a united over a tawdry tabloid sex scan- ideas, and, on the other side, an absurd and unjustifiable force. There were too many dal. In the 18th century, we those who believe personali- attack. Yet ironically, the CWI political divisions on the left, had the War of Jenkins Ear, ties are all-important. It is a and others, including especial- they insisted. between Britain and Spain, battle of substance over image, ly the SWP, have today bought The hostility of the London- when a sea captain allegedly and of socialist egalitarianism into a concept of socialism based left to this project of had his ear cut off by Spanish over the cult of the individual. which contains disturbing ele- socialist unity in Scotland was coastguards. Now we have the It is a divide that is above ments of Stalinism. set out by vividly by Chris War of Tommy's Halo. and beyond political pro- In the 1930s the choice Bamberry, now editor of In the run up to Tommy gramme and policy, between before the Communist move- Socialist Worker, in a debate Sheridan's defamation action those who believe that social- ment was presented as either with Alan McCombes of the an open letter and petition ist politics has to be based on for Stalin, or for Hitler. Either SSP at the SWP-organised, signed by 300 SSP members ethics and morality, and those for the GPU (later renamed the Socialism in Scotland confer- hailed the looming court case who believe in the pursuit of KGB), or for the Gestapo. ence in November 1998. as "a titanic battle" between electoral success by any means Either for the Soviet Union, or "The difference between Tommy and News of the necessary. for fascism. This was backed Alan and myself is over what World. On a much bigger stage, the by hysterical demagogy and sort of party we need. In 1914, This was never a titanic bat- same kind of battle has been vicious character assassination John Maclean was correct tle. The miners' strike was a fought out over the past few of all dissidents. In the fren- when he decided there was titanic battle. The Poll Tax years inside the Brazilian zied conditions of the 1930s, it fundamental divide between campaign was a titanic battle. Workers Party (PT). Under the was also backed up by mass reform and revolution. There Wapping was a titanic battle. charismatic leadership of the violence, terror and torture. was a river of blood between These were major struggles massively popular figure of Conspiracy theories were them. against injustice and inequality Lula, the party took power in concocted purporting to prove "Maclean, Lenin, Trotsky, involving vast numbers of 2002. that old Bolsheviks were in the Luxemburg understood that people. In Tommy Sheridan Yet the hopes of millions pay of Hitler, and had plans to reform and revolution aren't versus News Group newspa- have been shattered by the per- carry out mass murder by poi- two roads to one goal, they are pers, the only principle at stake formance of Lula in power and soning the Soviet Union's two separate roads to very dif- was the right to hypocrisy. the exposure of widespread water supply. ferent goals. The attempt of From the outset, Tommy corruption within the Workers Europe's left intelligentsia - the Scottish Socialist Party to Sheridan attempted to portray Party. The party apparatus jus- the artists, writers and academ- bridge that divide, to have peo- this court battle as a heroic tified its turn to neo-liberalism ics - overwhelmingly sided ple from the social democratic political stand against the "evil and its involvement in system- with Stalin against the dissi- tradition, the reformist tradi- Murdoch empire". It was noth- atic corruption on the grounds dent left, even during the tion and the revolutionary tra- ing of the sort. It was a sordid that Lula was so important, so Moscow Trials when dition in the same party, and to little dispute between Tommy popular, and so indispensable grotesque confessions were say we can conduct this argu- and the local editor of the
3 Scottish edition of the News of up on the payroll of the age for food, newspapers like and recklessness. the World, who probably earns Murdoch Empire. the News of the World rum- The first stirrings of the cri- less than George Galloway was Moreover, one of Tommy's mage through the private lives sis that was to have such a pro- paid for his weekly column in most prominent supporters and of celebrities in the hope of found impact on the SSP first the Mail on Sunday. The legal advisers in his libel battle dredging up sleaze and scan- materialised in late 2001. At £200,000 sum that Tommy was himself a columnist for dal. that time, rumours began to cir- Sheridan tried to sue News of over year with one of culate in the Scottish media the World sounds like a lot of Murdoch's publications, the FROM THE outset, the SSP that Tommy Sheridan had money; but News Corporation Times Educational executive avoided taking a attended a sex club in is worth 150,000 times that Supplement, during which moral stand on the allegations Manchester. amount. time he stood as an SSP candi- of the News of the World, In a discussion with Alan Almost all newspapers are date. including those admitted by McCombes, Tommy categori- owned by giant corporations, Another of Tommy's sup- Tommy Sheridan. cally denied the rumour, claim- including the local press. The porters, George Galloway, was There is a legitimate debate ing that he would never be so Herald and Glasgow Evening a long-term columnist with the to be had within the socialist foolish as to damage his repu- Times, for example, are owned Mail on Sunday, earning up to movement about where the tation by such a reckless act. by the Gannett corportation, a £70,000 a year. The newspaper limits of acceptable behaviour His denial was accepted and multi-billion dollar American has a longstanding reputation should be drawn. Some ele- the matter was left at that. media empire which controls for its right wing, anti-trade ments of the SSP - notably the His denial under the circum- over 1000 publications and 22 union and anti-immigrant Socialist Worker platform - stances could easily be forgiv- TV stations worldwide. It stance, and even has historical have argued the ultra-libertari- en as an understandable and would be absurd to suggest that links to the fascist blackshirts. an position that even promi- natural human reaction. whenever, for example, the That is not a criticism of nent leaders of the socialist However, by his own admis- Sunday Herald carries a nega- individual socialists writing for movement have the right to sion, Tommy went on to repeat tive article about the SSP, we right wing publications owned behave as they wish in private. exactly the same "reckless" are under attack from the by anti-trade union corpora- In contrast, most people and "foolish" behaviour six Gannet corporation. tions. There is a case for get- would draw the line at months later. In the past, Tommy had no ting the socialist message out exploitative behaviour such as In late 2001, Keith compunction about collaborat- to the widest possible audience paedophilia, prostitution and Baldassara had heard the same ing with the Scottish supple- by every means available. But predatory sex with people story of swingers clubs from a ments produced by the "evil what we will criticise is the under the influence of alcohol different source - a neighbour Murdoch empire". In 1999, crass hypocrisy of Tommy and drugs; while recognising in Pollok. He confronted weeks after he was sworn in to Sheridan's attempt to portray that consensual sex between Tommy about the rumour. the Scottish Parliament, his libel action as a principled adults, no matter how lurid or Tommy was evasive and Tommy was offered a column political stance. unusual, is a private matter. uncomfortable but did not deny by the Scottish Sun. In private The lurid allegations about In an interview before the the story. Instead, he assured discussions, he argued strongly Tommy Sheridan's private life case began, the actor and film Keith that there was nothing to in favour of accepting the were certainly distasteful. director, Peter Mullan, suggest- worry about, that it would offer, on the grounds that it Intrusion into people's private ed that Tommy would remain never go public. would allow the ideas of lives has for long been a trade- even a political hero even if he Later, in 2002, Keith also socialism to be taken to mass mark of the British tabloid was a exposed as cannibal. challenged Tommy over anoth- tabloid readership. press. Underlying the humour was er incident, this time in a hotel Others argued that this But this grubby form of jour- the more serious suggestion room involving Tommy, a would be mistake, because of nalism has never been driven that the personal behaviour of prostitute and another individ- the newspaper's associations by politics. The News of the socialist leaders is irrelevant. ual. Keith had been made with the crushing of the trade World is just as likely to target But most people would aware of this rumour as a result unions at Wapping in the mid- a right wing Tory cabinet min- expect certain standards of per- of loose talk by friends of 1980s. They suggested that ister or a member of the royal sonal behaviour from socialist Tommy. The story later resur- Tommy should instead meet family as a socialist politician. leaders. If James Connolly had faced in the Court of Session, the editor of the Daily Record, Moreover, the newspaper beaten his wife or John where Tommy strenuously explain that he had been which Tommy himself until MacLean had abused children, denied the allegation. offered £300 a week by the recently wrote for, The Mirror, their reputation as working In November 2002, Tommy Sun, and offer to write a col- has never been averse to class heroes would have been warned Keith that he had been umn for the Record instead for exposing sex and drugs scan- in tatters, no matter their polit- back to the Cupids swingers the same money. Martin dals, with recent targets includ- ical virtues. club in Manchester and that Clarke, then editor of the Daily ing the supermodel, Kate However, morality was not some elements in the media Record agreed to the proposi- Moss, John Prescott and Simon at the heart of the discussion were onto it. This prompted tion, partly to spike the guns of Cowell. when the SSP executive asked Keith to arrange a meeting the paper's arch-rival across the It is naïve to expect anything Tommy to stand down back in with Alan McCombes, where Clyde. If he had not done so, different from the tabloid November 2004. The issues at he told him about the conversa- Tommy may well have ended press. Just as wild animals for- stake were hypocrisy, deceit tions between him, Tommy and
4 others about both the swingers Alan McCombes phoned vate indiscretions. to deal with the matter private- club and the incident in the Tommy in the early hours of What could destroy Tommy, ly and informally rather than Moat House hotel. Sunday morning after seeing however, would be precisely take it through the formal Because Tommy had denied the first edition of the newspa- the course of action he structures of the party. any personal involvement in per late on Saturday night. appeared to be intent on taking Tommy refused to attend the the hotel incident, Alan ignored Alan expressed anger that - a sustained campaign of lies, meeting and insisted that he that, but arranged to meet Tommy had concealed the including perjury. The meeting was not prepared to discuss the Tommy to confront him over involvement in the escapade of reached a stalemate, where- matter with anyone. He had the information which was not a News of the World journalist, upon Alan and Keith informed made up his mind and made it in dispute. Tommy accepted and asked to meet Tommy at Tommy they would now have clear that nothing anyone had that he had behaved foolishly the following day's National to consult with a wider group to say would convince him oth- by visiting Cupids. However, Council in Edinburgh. of EC members. erwise. As a result, a special he was adamant that the story There was never any attempt Contrary to some sugges- executive was convened for would never come out into the by Tommy to dispute that he tions that have circulated with- Tuesday November 9. public domain, and pledged it was the unnamed MSP in the in the party and were repeated Although some of the detail would never happen again. article, though he did claim by Tommy, his QCs and his of the discussion of that meet- Unaware that Tommy had that Anvar Khan had also had witnesses in the Court of ing has been omitted from the been in the company of a News an affair with an SNP MSP. At Session, there was no factional minutes, they nonetheless con- of the World journalist when he the National Council, Alan and dispute, no power struggle, and stitute an accurate explanation visited the club, Alan accepted Tommy agreed to put the dis- no trace of rivalry or animosity of the decision taken to ask for these assurances and decided it cussion on hold till the follow- up until this point. Tommy's resignation. Contrary would be in the best interests ing day, and to involve Keith Tommy himself acknowl- to some of the evidence pro- of the party, and of Tommy, if Baldassara. edged this in a public statement vided to the Court of Session, the lid was kept firmly closed They met in Tommy's then after his resignation where he there was no shadow of a doubt on the incident. No one else, office in Glasgow City said: that Tommy had admitted to apart from Keith Baldassara, Chambers on Monday "I would like to take this attending Cupids twice, in was informed of these discus- November 1. Alan and Keith opportunity to confirm that my 1996 and 2002 in the company sions. suggested that Tommy either resignation as party convenor of Anvar Khan and others In February 2004, another ignore the story, or even go to has nothing at all to do with (though he did not admit to long standing activist in the editor of the Scottish internal power struggles. There attending the club in 2001). Pollok, George McNeilage, Mirror as soon as he was is not and never has been any The issue at stake at the was given reliable information named to defuse the impact of internal squabbles or back-bit- meeting was not morality, about a story that was circulat- the story through a sympathet- ing about a leadership chal- although there were some com- ing around the Glasgow under- ic newspaper. lenge." ments about the sleazy and world that Tommy Sheridan They also offered to assist It should be noted that, up exploitative character of the was involved in visiting sex him explaining the problem to until that point, both Alan commercial sex industry, clubs. George discussed the members of his family, and McCombes and Keith including clubs such as Cupids. allegation with Tommy, who suggested that he take time off Baldassara had a very close At the time the Scottish again confirmed that it was to deal with any personal fall- personal and political relation- Parliament had begun to con- true. out. Tommy expressed hostility ship with Tommy which had sider issues such as prostitution Even though the story was towards any option other than stretched back many years. tolerance zones, and the licens- now quite widely known out- outright denial of any story, At Tommy's request, Alan ing of lap dancing clubs. side the SSP, it remained hid- including libel action. McCombes had just finished Consequently, there was some den from public view and from He told Keith and Alan that writing an extensive pamphlet concern at the special EC the party until October 31 he "could win this", and would on rail public ownership in meeting that Tommy's position 2004, when News of the World "destroy" Anvar Khan. He order to assist Tommy deflect on these matters could be com- splashed with a front page arti- insisted that if this story came criticisms of the party from promised because of his partic- cle plus a double-page spread out, he would be not just polit- sections of the RMT leader- ipation in the sex industry. which reported a visit to ically damaged, but would be ship. However, these points were Cupids by the paper's so-called "totally destroyed" and could Over the next few days, Alan secondary. The substance of "sex columnist" Anvar Khan in never come back. and Keith met the other five the discussion revolved around the company of an unnamed Keith and Alan strongly dis- MSPs, plus Richie Venton and lies and hypocrisy. Given married MSP and three other agreed, arguing that, especially Allan Green, to warn them of Tommy's insistence on denying people. if Tommy handled the allega- the situation and to seek the truth in the media and ulti- Although the name of the tions with dignity and a degree advice. Unanimously, those mately in the courts, all of MSP was not revealed, it was of contrition, any damage involved in the discussions those present agreed with a clear from the text that would be temporary. People were opposed to Tommy's pro- heavy heart that there was no Tommy's identity was known respect those who are prepared posed course of action and alternative but to ask for to the News of the World, and to take responsibility for their asked for a meeting with Tommy's resignation. it was likely that he would be own actions. They would for- Tommy to discuss things situa- Tommy had to leave before named by the newspaper. give, and over time forget, pri- tion further. Our intention was the end of the meeting and
5 before a vote was taken. All of leak to the Daily Record the some of that information was the party, motivated by jeal- those present, EC members and day after the special executive leaked to elements of the ousy and rivalry. Some ver- non-EC regional organisers, meeting. The political editor of media. sions circulating inside and voted unanimously to ask the Daily Record had phoned But far more damaging was outside the party attributed Tommy to step down. Alan McCombes, in the pres- the campaign of spin and mis- Tommy's demise to a feminist At the EC, there was a sepa- ence of Allan Green, to ask for information designed to dis- conspiracy, complete with talk rate discussion on the timing of confirmation that Tommy had credit the SSP executive's deci- of witches' covens. his resignation. A minority sup- resigned. sion. Within 24 hours of This vilification of women as ported a proposal to ask He had also been falsely Tommy resignation, pliable the villains of the piece both Tommy to step down the fol- informed that Colin Fox had journalists were fed lies con- expressed and pandered to a lowing day, so that there could been instrumental in forcing cerning the resignation, which strain of sexism and misogyny be some kind of agreed expla- his resignation and had been they then dutifully repeated in that runs within society as a nation in the Scottish Socialist installed as interim leader; and their columns in the Scottish whole (including not least in Voice, rather than the informa- that CCTV footage had been Mirror and other newspapers. newspapers like News of the tion being reported in the first examined by the EC. In a column that was written World). instance through the main- Much of this was fictitious; less than two days after the Tommy Sheridan's notorious stream media. However, a nonetheless, with rumours now special EC, Ron Mackenna of Open Letter, published in May majority voted to give Tommy seeping out, Alan McCombes the Scottish Mirror first plant- 2006, denounced his oppo- a further few days, until the and Tommy Sheridan agreed ed the idea that Tommy had nents for wanting to turn the Saturday, to resign. that the resignation should be been the victim of a premedi- party away from class politics Tommy has since tried to brought forward and a state- tated plot. into a "gender-obsessed discus- rewrite the history of that ment published that night. The "Secret group meetings, a sion group". Like much of the meeting by claiming that he statement praised the historic sudden resignation, a not- rest of the letter, this was non- was asked to stand down role of Tommy Sheridan, but quite-convincing-explanation sense. because he wanted to fight a did not reveal the reasons for and in the background, lurid In fact, most of those who court case over a false allega- his resignation, explaining that allegations in a book of such opposed Tommy's libel action tion. This is nonsense. these were private and confi- breathtaking tackiness that are those who have fought If the allegation had been dential. nobody took it seriously… most forcibly to maintain the false, we would have supported Alan McCombes appeared "Let's look at the other working class character and Tommy 100 per cent in any on the radio news programme, rumours that have been flying orientation of the party. They battle to clear his name. But we Good Morning Scotland, the around for ages. That Tommy's are mainly concentrated in the were not prepared to back a following morning to praise new colleagues, and particular working class heartlands of the Jeffrey Archer or Jonathan Tommy Sheridan for the role the women in his group, don't central belt, while much of Aitken style libel action to that he had played, while think he is quite up to their Tommy's support has been prove a fiction. We argued that insisting that the reasons for standard. Laughable though based on the more middle class fighting to disprove allegations his resignation should remain that is. and rural sections of the party. that were true would be a private. "That Tommy has become Ironically, some of the kamikaze action that would This was the position more and more isolated from women MSPs attacked by potentially destroy the party. adhered to rigidly by the SSP the strident and often hilarious- Tommy for being "gender- If we had gone along with EC and press department ly inept MSPs he brought into obsessed" have outstanding Tommy's advice, he would still throughout the coming months; the party he created. That they track records in leading strikes be the convenor; and the party, though Tommy himself decid- genuinely believe they would and working class community its newspaper, its websites, its ed to go on a media charm be better running the show campaigns. Since 2003 they members and its MSPs would offensive with a far-fetched themselves. And let's ask the have also been far more all have been mobilised over story that he had voluntarily question. Is that true? Did they steeped than Tommy in sorting the past 20 months to fight a resigned to spend more time bring him down? Did they out the day to day problems of battle based on lies. with his wife and unborn child. seize their chance?" people in the poorest commu- The ship would have been The EC had agreed to pro- All of that was utter non- nities, including asylum seek- sailing straight into an iceberg vide all the relevant informa- sense. But ominously, it came ers, low paid workers and peo- with the crew and passengers tion to the party membership. from a journalist who was very ple with debt problems. oblivious to the disaster ahead. In practice, some of the more close to Tommy - a fellow There is an old saying, "No Instead, the officers mutinied delicate information was with- columnist on the Scottish smoke without fire". Because against the captain, and have held even from party members. Mirror, who at the time also of the tidal waves of misinfor- managed to at least partially However, within days of the worked for the legal firm mation over the past 18 steer the ship clear of the loom- EC, hundreds of members had which took on Tommy's libel months, some people will be ing iceberg. been provided with at least case. inclined to believe that Tommy some information, with vary- Other journalists took up the has been the victim of a plot. THE RESIGNATION of ing degrees of detail reported same theme. Tommy's resigna- The truth is, they have been Tommy Sheridan as convenor from region to region and from tion was the result of a long- duped. The so-called conspira- was accelerated as a result of a branch to branch. Inevitably standing power struggle within cy to overthrow Tommy is a
6 blatant lie invented by Tommy Ghandi, the SSP turned the tended to be circumspect about Membership was rising himself to explain away his other cheek and tried to con- their family life, Tommy rarely again. Street activity was flour- removal as party convenor. centrate on rebuilding support squandered any opportunity to ishing. The only poll to meas- Prior to November 2004, for the party, even at times parade his marriage before the ure Holyrood voting intentions Tommy's principal opponents under extreme provocation. public via an endless stream of - commissioned by the SNP - inside the SSP were groups Whether, in retrospect, we glossy magazine articles and showed the SSP ahead of the who are now among his most should have brought all the photo opportunities. Greens and back to the same uncritical supporters. The facts out into the public In a classic example of level of support as in 2002. Socialist Worker platform, for domain is a legitimate point of Victorian-style hypocrisy, Even the wounds opened up in example, repeatedly attacked discussion. It would certainly Tommy's private behaviour November 2004 had begun to Tommy as a 'nationalist', espe- have allowed us to move on was in stark contradiction to heal, with relations, for exam- cially from 2003 onwards. The and would almost certainly his public persona. His private ple, on the EC and in the par- CWI had for long denounced have forestalled the catastro- lifestyle could and should have liamentary group more healthy Tommy as a 'left nationalist' phe of July 2006. been Tommy's own personal than at any time since and a 'parliamentary reformist'. The fact is, allegations of choice. Even hypocrisy could November 2004, In contrast, those who have Puritanism, Calvinism and be overlooked, providing it did The 2006 national confer- been accused of "assassinat- Talibanism against the SSP not affect the lives of anyone ence was a model of open, tol- ing" Tommy Sheridan were on executive were without foun- else. erant and respectful democratic the same side as Tommy in all dation. Ironically, it was But what is unforgiveable is debate. Relations among the political battles fought out Tommy himself who adopted a that, in order to defend his right MSPs and other EC members within the party prior to moralistic stance, with his to be a hypocrite, Tommy had improved steadily. The November 2004. insistence that if it ever became Sheridan inflicted disastrous People Not Profit campaign Nor were there any personal public that he had attended a damage on his party, dragged assisted the party to turn out- differences. Some of these swingers club, he would be dozens of his comrades wards to the streets, work- accused in the Court of Session "politically destroyed". through into the courts, put places, communities and uni- of being at the centre of a plot - We rejected this argument pressure on others to commit versities. for example, the party treasur- and suggested that, providing perjury and risk serious legal However, there was always a er, Allison Kane - had been Tommy dealt with any revela- recriminations, and, most des- storm cloud looming over the close personal friends with tions in a mature and honest picably of all, in front of the horizon. From the day Tommy Tommy and Gail Sheridan fashion, it would eventually entire Scottish media, interro- Sheridan's libel action against right up until the events of blow over. He could have gated women who had been the News of the World was November 2004. ignored the allegations. dragooned before the court announced, many members of Naturally, some of Tommy's Alternatively he could have under citation about details of the EC were uneasy. closest comrades and allies felt taken it on the chin and apolo- their intimate lives. We did not accept Tommy's upset, disappointed and angry gised, perhaps pre-empting To protect his own privacy, repeated assurances that the at his reckless conduct and his News of the World by coming Tommy has been prepared to News of the World would settle refusal to work with the party clean via a more sympathetic drag before the salivating out of court. We were con- to limit the damage that he had newspaper. Or he could have tabloid media of Scotland sala- cerned that, whatever the truth created. But there was no con- issued what is described in cious details of innocent peo- or otherwise of the specific spiracy - other than the plot media jargon as a "non-denial ple who have never courted case under dispute, the litiga- dreamed up in Tommy's imagi- denial" - a statement along the publicity, nor attempted to por- tion action had the potential to nation after the event. lines of "I will treat such outra- tray themselves as virgin wreak serious damage on geous allegations with the con- angels. Tommy's reputation, drag the ANOTHER VERSION of tempt they deserve". He has also publicly, in the party into the courts, and events that persisted for Either way, the matter would highest court in the land, involve innocent people in the months after Tommy's resigna- eventually have faded into the accused 11 members of his legal crossfire. We were also tion was that the SSP executive mists of history. Tommy him- own executive of a monstrous alarmed at Tommy's apparent had acted unnecessarily harsh- self could have survived as political frame-up including determination to stop at noth- ly towards Tommy in a fit of convenor if he had taken the forgery of documents, a crimi- ing to win the case. extreme Puritanism. course of action recommended nal conspiracy to pervert the When, eventually, the News George Galloway, for exam- to him. course of justice, and systemat- Group legal team came after ple, in a TV interview before Unfortunately, Tommy was ic perjury. the SSP November 2004 min- the court case, lambasted the unwilling to allow his public utes, the party was thrown back SSP as "Calvinist-Trotskyites" image to be tarnished. Since WITHOUT THIS court case 18 months. It also triggered a for the action taken back in being elected to the Scottish everything could have been new onslaught against the November 2004. Parliament, Tommy had care- dramatically different. During integrity of honest and hon- For months on end, we fully nurtured a reputation as a 2006, the party had begun to ourable party members. endured similar jibes in silence clean-cut, faithful husband. get back on track after the This time, instead of con- in order to protect the privacy In contrast to other Scottish upheavals of late 2004 and ducting a guerrilla war from of Tommy and his family. Like political leaders, who have early 2005. the shadows, Tommy declared
7 open warfare. This escalation months to save Tommy from party that the minutes were these minutes should be con- of the conflict appears to have himself. We had strongly likely to be cited. cealed from the media, even been prepared behind the advised him to desist from As soon as the court ruled in though the minutes had been scenes in discussion with vari- what we regarded as the politi- favour of the citation of the referred to in the Herald news- ous groupings, notably the SW cal and legal equivalent of a minutes, they became effec- paper on the morning of the platform. suicide bombing, in which he tively court property. At that special National Council, At a time when the party was would blow himself up and point, destruction or falsifica- November 27 2004. under attack from the state, inflict serious damage on oth- tion of the documents would During the subsequent eight- with one member in jail, homes ers in the process. have potentially led to serious een months, not one resolution and offices raided, 15 cited as In early May 2006, the party criminal charges against party was ever moved at any meeting witnesses, and a branch under was dragged for the first time office bearers. of the party suggesting that the legal investigation because of a into Tommy's court battle It would have taken us out of minutes should be destroyed. resolution it passed, this was a when News of the World cited the realms of contempt of court Nor was a single letter was time above all to stand united. the minutes of the November 9 through defiance, which is a received from any member of Instead Tommy Sheridan meeting. civil offence, into the realms of the party suggesting this course published his Open Letter Unfortunately, the first the perverting the course of justice, of action, even though the exis- which he circulated to every party became aware that the which can carry a sentence of tence of minutes of the crucial section of the media in minutes would be cited was on up to ten years imprisonment. meeting was general knowl- Scotland, including every title Thursday May 11 2006, when Jeffrey Archer, for example, edge within the party and had published by the Murdoch Sheriff Officers appeared at the was sentenced to four years never been hidden from the press. The letter is one of the party HQ in Kinning Park with imprisonment for falsifying his media. most dismal documents ever citations against four party own diary in pursuit of his libel But then in January 2006, circulated within the socialist members. case. Tommy Sheridan gave a per- movement in Scotland. Its con- Frances Curran, Colin Fox, There has been a separate sonal profile interview to the tent were far more damaging to Alan McCombes and Eddie debate within the party over Sunday Herald, in which he the reputation of committed Truman were all instructed to whether minutes should ever falsely claimed that for three socialists than anything the appear in the Court of Session have been taken of the weeks before the special EC News of the World had ever before a commissioner the fol- November 9 2004 meeting. Yet meeting of November 9, 2004, printed about Tommy lowing Tuesday, May 16, with up until they were cited, the the party had been discussing Sheridan. all relevant notes and minutes. existence of these minutes had how to deal with the forthcom- It is a mixture of quarter- Unknown to us, the citing of never been remotely con- ing Fiona McGuire allegations truth, grotesque distortion and these documents had been the tentious within the party. in the News of the World. outright fabrication. Not one of subject of a legal battle extend- According to the official In the same January 2006 the imaginary grievances listed ing over several days from handwritten notes of the EC interview, Tommy denied the by Tommy in the document Monday May 8 to Wednesday meeting which ratified these existence of any minutes. This was ever previously raised by May 10. During this legal bat- minutes (November 21), it was was the first time that any party Tommy within the party using tle, Tommy Sheridan's lawyers Rosemary Byrne who pro- member had tried to pretend the formal procedures which contested the citations. Yet this posed that, for reasons of con- that no minutes existed. exist to deal with such com- information was withheld from fidentiality, we should keep a The party press officer, plaints. Nor had he even raised the party. single copy of the minutes- and Eddie Truman, received a call any of these complaints infor- Challenged by Colin Fox to that copy should be held by from the Sunday Herald on the mally. explain why, Tommy claimed Allan Green. day before the publication of This was not a serious politi- that he did not know about the This arrangement was the Sunday Herald interview. cal document. It was a defama- battle over the citations. This reported to a special 140- Eddie did not know that tory and inflammatory amal- was frankly incredulous. In strong National Council meet- Tommy had given an inter- gam of fiction and prejudice, legal cases, lawyers take ing the following Saturday. view, and was oblivious to the dripping with vitriol from instructions from their clients Allan Green, the National fact that Tommy had denied the beginning to end. every step of the way. It is Secretary asked the National existence of any minutes of the It was targeted not just at beyond belief that Tommy did Council to make an exception November 9 2004 meeting. SSP members, but also at the not know in advance of the to the normal procedure of cir- He was asked some factual wider public via the media. Its three-day hearing that News of culating the minutes because of questions about the party's purpose was to whip up an the World were attempting to their sensitive content. His plea internal procedures, including atmosphere of rampant suspi- cite the November 9 minutes. was backed at the same meet- "Are minutes taken of EC cion in advance of the court Even if it had been political- ing by Tommy Sheridan, who meetings?" Unaware of the case, paving the way for ly acceptable to rewrite our also asked that the minutes purpose of this line of ques- Tommy to portray himself in own history by falsifying the remain confidential. tioning, Eddie simply con- court as the victim of a minutes, or destroying them as Not one person at that firmed that yes, EC meetings Machiavellian plot. called for by Cardonald branch National Council meeting sug- are minuted. He was then The truth was exactly the during the legal battle, this gested that the minutes should asked if the November 9 2004 opposite. The core of the SSP option was eliminated by be destroyed. Nor did anyone EC meeting was minuted and leadership had tried for 18 Tommy's failure to notify the suggest that the existence of again factually confirmed that
8 minutes of the meeting did are both a vital historical Session, he went so far as to meeting. The forger effectively exist. record and an insurance policy submit as evidence a forged delivered names on a plate to This was simple statement of providing protection for the document purporting to be the News of the World, who then fact which no-one in the party party against those who have real minutes of the November seized the opportunity to drag had ever previously tried to shown themselves intent on 9 2004 meeting. these names before the court deny. But when Eddie's quote dragging the good name of the This fake set of minutes first under threat of imprisonment. appeared in the Sunday Herald, SSP through the gutter. materialised in mid-May, two attributed to an "SSP For a serious political party, days before Alan McCombes WHILE THIS skulduggery spokesperson", it was juxta- written records of major deci- was due to appear Lady Smith was taking place, the majority posed against a denial by sions are not an optional extra, in the Court of Session to of the EC attempted to deal Tommy Sheridan of the exis- like tomato sauce on chips. answer for his refusal to hand with the mounting crisis in a tence of any minutes. They are vital to preserve the over the real minutes. responsible way. When the It is unfortunate, to say that truth and ensure historical The lawyers acting for News minutes were cited, we consid- least, that some party members accountability. of the World had contacted ered three options - lie, defy or have criticised Eddie Truman Even under the best of cir- Fred Tyler, the lawyer acting comply. for this innocuous exchange, cumstances, decisions that are for the SSP, to inform him that In a meeting with Allan which was entirely in line with unrecorded can be open to mis- they had anonymously Green and Colin Fox on Friday his role as national press offi- interpretation, especially with received a document which May 12 2006, Tommy had cer. the passage of time. Written claimed to be the minutes of argued for defiance. At that If anyone deserves criticism records, in contrast, are not the November 9 2004 meeting. meeting, he was shown a copy for the conflicting information subject to memory lapse, ambi- The document was then shown of the minutes. After reading in the Sunday Herald it is guity, or wilful misinterpreta- to Colin Fox and Alan the document, he suggested Tommy Sheridan, who, with- tion. They cannot be falsified McCombes, who were able to that it would damage his case, out consulting with the press without being physically confirm to Fred Tyler that it but explained that if it was officer, the national secretary destroyed or rewritten. was a forgery. eventually handed into the or anyone else, contradicted If anything, the events of This fake minute was heavi- court the damage would not the party's previous public July 2006 reinforce the vital ly based on the original minute, necessarily be fatal. However, acknowledgement of the exis- importance of keeping minutes with some identical detail. he stated that there was a tence of minutes. in order to explain the reason- Though it backed up Tommy's strong labour movement tradi- Eighteen months after it was ing behind vital decisions. The fictitious version of events, it tion of defiance and argued that reported to the party that Allan November 9 minutes are not could only have been created was the party should do. Green would keep a single salacious in any way, but they by someone who was familiar, At that stage, neither Allan copy of the minutes, some peo- do provide an explanation for not just with the general con- nor Colin were convinced there ple in the party began to argue what was an extraordinary and tent of the real minutes, but was any option but to hand that we should never have even traumatic decision. also with some of the second- over the document. Three of taken minutes in the first place. The events surrounding ary detail. the four people cited were in a This argument only emerged Tommy Sheridan's have been It was in all probability the vulnerable position. Frances after the minutes had already misinterpreted and even falsi- work of someone who had Curran is the single mother of a been cited by News of the fied by various forces either for recently read the authentic six year old child. Both Colin World. It is an absurd argu- political reasons or simply to minutes. At the same time, the Fox and Frances Curran could ment. discredit the 2004 EC. The forged document contains be thrown out of office if bank- In a party like the SSP, not Socialist Workers Party, for important errors and omis- rupted as result of defiance of everything is minuted. example, made the extraordi- sions. The attendance list at the the Court of Session. Eddie Considerations of time, space nary and now discredited claim top comprises initials rather Truman had just been diag- and relevance all have to be that Tommy Sheridan was than full names, which would nosed with a serious illness. taken into account. But there removed because of his sup- be the normal format of SSP In further discussions over can no question that key deci- port for the Rose Gentle cam- minutes. It also excluded the the next few days, it became sions affecting the future of the paign. initials of three people who had clear that of the four individu- socialist movement have to be Without written records been at the November 2004 als, only Alan McCombes was explained in written form. explaining key decisions, the meeting. in a position to sustain a strate- The November 9 was not a door can be left open to the It is no coincidence that gy of defiance. At the EC meet- routine, run-of-the mill meet- rewriting of history by those these three people were never ing of May 14, it was agreed ing. This was a historic event. with a political interest in man- cited by News of the World. that he take sole custody of the When the most charismatic and ufacturing misinformation, or Whoever provided News of the minutes. It was further agreed popular socialist leader in those who shout the loudest. World with the fake minutes that party would fight a two- Scotland for a generation and Not that the existence of also provided them with infor- pronged battle to keep the min- more is forced to stand down minutes deterred Tommy from mation which was then used by utes out of the hands of the from his position that requires rewriting history and impeach- the newspapers lawyers to court. One prong would an explanation. ing his comrades to save his identify most of those present involve a legal challenge, The minutes of that meeting own skin. In the Court of at the November 9 2004 EC which in turn would mean hir-
9 ing a lawyer and a QC. If that More importantly, the strate- lobbed into a packed meeting. Council also believed that by legal challenge failed, Alan gy of defiance had begun to To their shame, the CWI arguing for the minutes to be would then refuse to hand over unite the SSP in the midst of a platform later boasted that it handed over to the court, the document. profound crisis. Two consecu- was they who had persuaded Tommy was prepared to accept Given some of the misin- tive EC meetings voted over- Tommy to distribute this letter, damage to his own defamation formed allegations that have whelmingly in favour of the after he had met them to com- case for the greater good of the been bandied about since con- defiance strategy, including all plain of an imaginary smear party. They were mistaken. cerning the costs of that action, strands of opinion on the exec- campaign against him. This was neither an honest it is important to emphasise utive. At best, the CWI were duped nor a brave move by Tommy. that almost all costs incurred Two all-members meetings by Tommy. The fact is that His undeclared new strategy were the result of the legal in Glasgow and Edinburgh had relations within the MSPs was to go into court to challenge, rather than as a revealed massive support group had improved steadily denounce the minutes as a for- result of the defiance strategy. across the board for the strate- over the months. The heated gery, and to impugn the integri- Alan could have simply gy. Though no votes were intensity of late 2004 and early ty of the national secretary, refused hand over the minutes taken, the mood of both meet- 2005 had faded into the mists Allan Green, the minutes sec- and accept a jail sentence at no ings was clear: resounding sup- of the past. Inside the meeting, retary Barbara Scott, and any cost other than the £500 fine port for defiance. Tommy indulged in a theatrical other cited EC member who that was eventually imposed. At both the EC and the mem- rant designed to set people at dared defend the legitimacy of However the EC agreed bers meetings, there were each others throats. In line with these minutes. unanimously, with the support brave but isolated voices call- the contents of his Open Letter, His outrageous accusation of every political faction and ing for compliance. But no-one he called for the minutes to be that there was a "cabal" in the every region, that we should suggested that our strategy handed over, effectively termi- party out to get him was an first fight out a legal battle and should be based on lies and nating the defiance strategy. integral part of this underhand underwrite the costs of that perjury. Although a group of This prompted both the CWI strategy. This was not about legal challenge. Most of the Cardonald branch members and the Socialist Worker plat- politics; it was about painting costs of our legal representa- handed out a letter at the forms into making a dizzying his own SSP comrades as tion have already been cleared. Glasgow meeting calling for U-turn. The SW platform, in malevolent monsters, in prepa- Still outstanding are two other the minutes to be destroyed. particular, had been extrava- ration for his preposterous elements. First, a £5000 bill Unfortunately, the unity of gant to the point of light-mind- accusations in court of a politi- imposed by the court to meet the party was deliberately shat- edness in their enthusiasm for cal frame-up. the costs of the raids on homes tered by Tommy Sheridan at defiance and the jailing of Alan and premises. These raids were the National Council meeting McCombes. Their attitude was IN COURT Tommy cynical- ordered by the court in of May 28 2006. By this time, summed up by one of their ly used the SSP evidence and response to the resolution from we had already fought out a members at the Glasgow all- minutes to deflect attention the Cardonald branch which battle in the Court of Session members' meeting: "Defy, away from the more explosive called for the destruction of the over several weeks. Alan defy, without blinking an eye." evidence that was provided to minutes. Thus a reckless reso- McCombes had already been Then, suddenly and en masse, the court. It was a classic diver- lution has cost the party £5000. locked up in Saughton Jail for they voted to hand over the sionary tactic designed to The other outstanding bill is implementing the defiance minutes. muddy the waters by focussing the News of the World legal strategy of the party. Others at the National the attention of the jury on a costs which were awarded During the discussions over Council voted with Tommy in sinister political conspiracy. against Alan McCombes. This this strategy, Tommy Sheridan good faith. They genuinely did In effect, Tommy put his could amount to tens of thou- had failed to appear at any of not believe that defiance could own party on trial. For the SSP sands of pounds. However, the formal meetings. He did be sustained. Some people the most important battle Alan has agreed to declare not attend either of the two EC were also misled by a report in fought out in the Court of himself bankrupt, if necessary, meetings, citing legal reasons the Sunday Herald into believ- Session was not the battle to avoid these costs. for his absence. Nor did he ing that the newspaper had a between the News of the World The strategy of defiance was attend either of the two all- copy of the minutes, or detailed and Tommy Sheridan. designed primarily to unify the members meetings. Nor had he information about the content Although there was a lot of party. There were important attempted to make any contact about the content of the min- money at stake in that clash, it ethical issues at stake concern- with Alan McCombes during utes. The report was in fact was was essentially a petty squab- ing the right of a political party his legal battle to protect a rehashed version of an article ble over a sleazy sex story in a to conduct its business in pri- Tommy's confidentiality and that had appeared in the news- tabloid newspaper. It was a vate. However, given Tommy's his own liberty. paper back in November 2004, fight over an ancient fish and determination to press ahead Then, out of the blue, which provided some sketchy chip wrapper. with a court case in which his Tommy issued his Open Letter, information - information A far more important battle own integrity was on the line, it and distributed it to the media, which had already been widely was the battle to rescue the was always going to be an including the Murdoch press. reported to party members at good name of the SSP, which uphill struggle to win any legal This was the political equiva- the time. was being systematically challenge. lent of hand grenade being Many people at the National trashed in front of the whole
10 Scottish media by Tommy the truth and defend the run up. The offer was refused. If, almost two years later, the Sheridan. integrity and history of the EC had lied under oath to pro- From day one of the trial, party, and the honesty of its For those cited by News of tect Tommy, we would have Tommy set about vilifying his office bearers. the World, the choices were negated the reasons behind the own party. His campaign of Some people, particularly stark. If they failed to appear, November 9 decision in the denigration reached its depths members of the Socialist they would have been arrested first place. The integrity of the when Tommy accused a 11 Workers platform have and jailed for contempt of party would be in tatters, and SSP members- including the attacked those who gave evi- court. If they lied, they would the November 9 2004 decision party convenor, Colin Fox, the dence as "scabs" and "class run the risk of perjury. Indeed, would have been pointless. Glasgow regional organiser, traitors". These supposed the judge explicitly warned one Richie Venton, and the national "class traitors" include people SSP witness that perjury car- secretary, Allan Green - of like Richie Venton, who is ries a lengthy prison sentence. FOR THE best part of two committing perjury in pursuit regarded as hero by many trade years, much of the leadership of a political vendetta against unionists the length of the UK Moreover, if the SSP wit- of the SSP has been under sus- him. by many trade unionists for the nesses had lied, they would tained bombardment from In an outburst that was outstanding work he has con- have effectively rewritten the inside and outside party. reported on the national news, ducted in solidarity with work- history of the party under pres- A large part of the party have he attacked Keith Baldassara ers in struggle; Carolyn Leckie, sure from Tommy Sheridan. never reconciled themselves to as "bitter and twisted", "the who has led successful strikes No-one could ever in the future the unanimous decision of the mother of all backstabbers" of low paid workers against set the record straight without EC which led to Tommy's res- and the "chief character assas- both multinational corpora- incriminating everyone else. ignation, despite that decision sin". This about the man who tions and her own union lead- And the version of November being endorsed overwhelming- has been the lynchpin of the ers; and others who have been 9 2004 that portrays all 19 peo- ly by the party's National socialist movement on the jailed for standing up for their ple in attendance at that meet- Council. Instead of respecting ground in Pollok - and who has class. ing as a gang of sinister con- that decision and moving on, for seven years carried out the Those who have had the spirators would have been these groupings grabbed every demanding and non-glamorous courage to stand up for the enshrined forever. opportunity to reopen the work of dealing with people's honour of a small socialist wounds of the past. problems on the ground on party under public attack are Some people suggested a behalf of Tommy Sheridan. the opposite of scabs and class slightly different approach: Faced with that bombard- Tommy believed he could traitors. Indeed, scabs and class collective memory loss. Under ment, which reached its turn his libel action into a pale traitors are those who put their this infantile plan, 15 SSP crescendo when Tommy issued imitation of the Moscow Trials, own naked self-interest above members were to troop into the his Open Letter some individu- with a parade of SSP EC mem- the interests of everyone else. witness box and claim they als crumbled. These included bers colluding in their own could not remember why people who had been part of political crucifixion, complete The action of the eleven SSP Tommy Sheridan resigned. that unanimous decision in the with public confessions of members who told the truth in first place, and others who had being involved in a fantastical the Court of Session was exact- At best, the SSP would have not been present at the meeting conspiracy. ly in line with the overwhelm- become the laughing stock of but supported the decision Incredibly, some people in ing decision of the last EC Scotland - the party that sacks wholeheartedly. the party have condemned SSP meeting before the trial on its charismatic leader and no- witnesses for refusing to turn June 18. By a vote of 17 for; 2 one can remember the reason Some individuals and group- themselves into abject sacrifi- against; and one abstention, a why. Nor would such a blatant ings, including for example the cial lambs for the greater glory resolution was carried instruct- conspiracy to conceal the facts entire CWI platform, carried of Tommy Sheridan. This ver- ing cited witnesses to neither have cut any ice with the court. out a 180-degree U-turn on the sion of socialism is straight out lie nor risk imprisonment for Over days of cross-examina- court case. After repeatedly of Animal Farm. It replaces contempt of court. No-one pro- tion, the witnesses would have and correctly arguing that the socialist solidarity with obse- posed any alternative strategy. been scattered and divided - as case should never go ahead, in quious obedience to the will of those who did try to give the feverish atmosphere of the a supposedly superior being. It It should also be emphasised fudged evidence on behalf of last few months they panicked, is corrupt and bankrupt. that the only person who was Tommy discovered at first fearing that Tommy would be The defiance strategy of the inside the Court of Session vol- hand. transformed into a hero by SSP ended the day that the untarily was Tommy Sheridan. winning the libel case and they National Council, rightly or It was within his power to stop It is important to recall the would left out in the cold. wrongly, voted to end defiance this case before it started. reason why we took the deci- and hand over the minutes to Strenuous efforts were made to sion to ask Tommy to stand Others, notably the SW plat- News of the World. From that persuade him to drop the down in the first place. It was form got it consistently wrong, moment onwards, the hon- action, including an offer that not a decision motivated by although their member at the ourable course of action for the party would raise funds to moral revenge, but a decision November 9 2004 did vote for cited SSP members was to tell cover the costs he had already designed to protect the party. Tommy's resignation. But from
11 then on, the SW platform acted the Tories. They are united he has no respect for other peo- as Tommy's most fanatical only by their hostility to the ple's privacy if that stands in cheerleaders, urging him majority of the leadership and the way of his. onwards at every stage. They their desperation to restore provided theoretical and politi- Tommy Sheridan to his rightful Mistakes can be rectified and cal legitimacy for Tommy's place as SSP convenor. forgiven. But they need first to destructive conduct. be acknowledged. In order to Will this battle rage on until move forward on principled Many others backed Tommy the October conference and basis, it is necessary that the for honourable and genuine beyond, tearing the party apart party disowns any attempt to reasons. They believed Tommy in the run-up to 2007? Or is falsify the facts and rewrite the was entirely innocent, or at there any possibility of a history of the party. least that his defamation case reunited party? centred solely on a false allega- Tommy's accusations in tion. This was an honest mis- Right now, that decision is court, which appear to have take. Tommy is an extremely very much in the hands of been accepted by at least some persuasive individual and did Tommy Sheridan and his sup- of the jurors at the trial, have manage to hoodwink many porters. Any rapprochement left a cloud of suspicion hang- people into believing that he has to be based on truth and ing over the heads of a number had been victimised by News honesty. It is difficult to unite of honest and respected SSP of the World for political rea- fact with fiction, truth with fan- members who have devoted sons, including seven members tasy, honesty with deceit. their lives to the cause of of the jury. socialism. That cloud could be Everyone makes mistakes. dispelled by a public apology On the eve of the court case, Some people might legitimate- from Tommy. these groups combined in an ly argue that the biggest mis- unholy alliance, the so-called take of all on the part of the Then, and perhaps only then, 'SSP Majority'. This disparate 2004 EC was its naïve belief can we draw a line under this mish-mash is divided on a that we could keep the facts of fiasco and start to redirect our range of important political Tommy's resignation con- efforts towards what we do issues. Some are pro-independ- cealed from the wider public. best - fighting injustice and ence, others anti-independ- Perhaps the party would be in promoting the causes of peace, ence; some are pro-gender better shape if we had gone freedom and socialism. equality, others anti-gender open at the time, rather than equality; some are ultra-liber- emphasise respect for Tommy's tarian on crime and punish- privacy. Ironically, Tommy ment, others are to the right of himself has since shown that
Contact the Scottish Socialist Party
Allan Green National Secretary SSP National Offices 70 Stanley Street Glasgow G41 1JB
0141 429 8200
12