The Solidarity National Steering Committee met on Saturday 13th June to discuss the implications of The European Election results and to discuss progress that has taken place on possible closer cooperation between left parties at the forthcoming Glasgow North East By-Election.

The Solidarity National Secretary was instructed by the NSC to issue the following letter to be distributed to members of The SSP who are meeting at a Regional Aggregate in Glasgow on June 16th.

The Glasgow North East By-Election – An Open letter to SSP Members 

Comrades,

The crisis in global capitalism and the recent European election results have given us all on the left much to ponder. The collapse of the vote for The Labour Party, the emergence of the BNP as an electable force and the huge levels of abstention, (especially in working class communities) mean that we all need to re-examine our strategy for the coming period. The resignation of The Speaker of The House of Commons, Michael Martin will necessitate a by-election in his constituency of Glasgow North East. Early indications are that the election would be held in early September.

It has come to our attention that the SSP plan to discuss standing and possibly select a candidate for the forthcoming Glasgow North East by-election at a Glasgow members meeting to be held in the city on Tuesday night. We in Solidarity would like to respectfully ask that SSP members delay a final decision on the issue, at least in the short term, until some form of left unity discussion can take place. It is our understanding that a group of prominent Scottish trade unionists linked to none of the parties of the left in Scotland are in the formative stages of brokering left unity talks specifically on the issue of the Glasgow North East constituency. Our understanding is that during the next week formal approaches will be made to trade unionists, left progressives, environmentalists, community activists, the SSP, SLP and Solidarity to see if a unity process is achievable.

If the call for such unity was to come from either ourselves in Solidarity or one of the various parties of the left in Scotland then you could be justified in treating it with suspicion and reject it. As however, the call is expected to come from respected trade unionists we hope the SSP will consider it seriously, just as Solidarity intend to do.

The constituency contains parts of the city of Glasgow that have some of the worst levels of poverty and deprivation in Western Europe. In the Springburn area, an estimated 40% of the population lives on or below the poverty line and unemployment is well above the national average. The crisis in the global economy will hit these poorest areas harder than most. We all believe that none of the mainstream parties offer a solution to the problems working class people in Glasgow North East and beyond face. Rather than the politics of despair, we would like to advance the politics of hope. We would like to see socialist, environmental, trade union and progressive arguments come to the fore in the by-election.

The problem is however, that the forces of the left advancing socialist and progressive arguments are disparate and divided. Without an agreement on left unity, the by-election could see a number of socialist/progressive/environmental parties fighting against each other for a share of the vote. Each one claiming to be the best option, each one claiming to have all the answers and each one struggling to make significant inroads in terms of votes.

The SSP, The SLP and Solidarity all have legitimate cause to stand under their own banner in this election. The SSP have without exception stood candidates in Glasgow seats since its inception in the late 1990’s achieving some notable results. The Socialist Labour Party received a significant number of votes in this constituency in 2005 and Solidarity emerged with the largest vote of all the left parties in the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections.

A left unity candidate however, with backing from trade unionists and all the various component groups on the left united around a short, basic programme may have a better chance of making a major impact on the election. We believe that this by-election offers an unrivaled opportunity for the left to try and put aside differences and unify in a temporary electoral pact or coalition. This will not be an easy task. There are deep divisions amongst groups on the left that make this kind of joint working difficult.

Never the less, we believe we have a duty to working class communities like Glasgow North East to at least discuss with those in the labour movement appealing to us to put aside those differences. We hope the SSP will delay a final decision until discussions can take place.

Yours in socialism,

Graeme McIver

National Secretary  (On behalf of The National Steering Committee of Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement.)