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| Photo Tris took opposite one of the polling stations on Thursday. We must nurture this political energy. |
By Tommy Sheridan
Over the last couple of days I have been inundated with thousands of facebook and twitter messages from disappointed YES supporters looking for a way forward. I am encouraged so many have decided to become politically involved and stay politically engaged. Leaving politics to the politicians is a recipe for poor governance.
Obviously I welcome those wishing to join my own party Solidarity. We have some of the best activists around and can be contacted at solidarityscotland.org New members are positive. However it is not enough.
What I am about to say is uncomfortable for a socialist like me. I oppose the SNP position on NATO membership, cutting corporation taxes for big businesses, retaining the Queen as a head of State, sharing sterling and other policies. BUT in order to maximise the pro-Independence vote in next May's General Election I believe all YES supporters should vote for the SNP and all other pro-Independence parties should not stand if the SNP candidate will commit to fight for a new Referendum as soon as possible AND against all Westminster austerity cuts to welfare and public services.
In other words I suggest we in the YES Movement promote continued unity by backing the most likely Independence supporting candidate at next May's election. In concrete terms that means advocating an SNP vote to try and unseat as many pro-NO party supporters as possible. Let's punish the reactionary and dishonest NO parties at the ballot box next May. Let's punish the shameful Labour Party in particular for siding with the Bankers, Bosses, Billionaires and Millionaires to try and crush our dream of a new and better Scotland with an avalanche of fear and lies.
The Holyrood elections in 2016 allow for more socialist, green and diverse candidates to be elected. The Westminster system doesn't.
If SNP candidates commit to fighting for a new Referendum
and against austerity cuts let's unite behind them. If successful then we
should insist all pro-Independence candidates in the 2016 Scottish election
commit to a March 2020 Referendum.
This magnificent movement for independence
and change can continue and grow. We have youth, energy and hope on our side.
Hope can triumph over Fear in 2020.
I realise some socialists will find it difficult
to support SNP candidates. That is understandable. BUT the stakes are huge now.
We cannot let down the 1.6 million who defied the threats and intimidation from
the rich to vote for a new and better country and world.
Unity is strength.
Don't let our differences weaken our cause.
#HopeOverFear remains our clarion call.
Tommy
(My personal opinion)
Well said Tommy, although not someone I would vote for I really admire his stance.
ReplyDeleteAfter a lifetime of not being a member of any political party this afternoon I joined the SNP. Woohoo, I,'ll be voting for them in May. AYE
Tommy has been a tour de force in the campaign, tirelessly out there night after night. One of the things that these guys have done is prove over and over that it was not all about teh SNP
DeleteIndeed I've been to meetings with 5 or 6 speakers and not one of them was from the SNP
But according to the moronic witterings of the the Labour Party, it was all about Alex Salmond...
What utter rubbish that was. RIC, Labour for Indy, SSP, Common Weal, and all manner of people have been out there working hard for Scotland.
I don;t know if I could vote for them, although in hustings for local elections I've often found that the person with whom I agreed more than any of the others was, in fact, the SSP person.
Congratulations on becoming a member of the SNP...
Ity looks like they will double their membership. The Greens are probably at triple theirs right now.
At the moment Tris, the number of new membership applications for the SNP is OVER 19,500. The latest news I've heard is that they have overtaken the Lib Dems to become the 3rd largest party in the U.K. In fact with membership at over 50,000 they now have 10 times the membership of the Labour party in Scotland. This based on the idea that the Labour party has 5,000 members in Scotland. Mind you, as Labour is haemorrhaging members left, right and centre who knows. LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks Arbroath. It's very hard to keep up with the growth in membership. Likewise the growth in the membership of the Greens and the SSP.
DeleteI seem to remember Wings doing a guestimate of Labour membership in Scotland, but I have no memory of what it was like.
Any organisation that keeps its membership quiet is probably try to hide something.
I'm amazed the membership of the Liberal Party in the Uk is in more than 3 figures.
There must be only a dozen or so in Scotland.
Yes it would be very interesting to know how many members Labour do have, mind could we really trust them to give us a truthful answer lol
DeleteI can't even find the post on Wings offhand.
DeleteI'll search properly in the morning for it.
I think it is fairly small. The SNPs figure of 25,000 was, if I remember, way in excess of Labour's
Would we need to wait until 2020 for another referendum or could we potentially have one at an earlier date?
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason we couldn't have one in the next parliament if the Pro-independence parties formed a coalition to get it through parliament.
DeleteJack Straw wants to make this kind of democracy illegal, but then Jack Straw was happy to bomb Iraq within an inch of its life although he knew for certain that there was no real reason to do this. So that's what you are up against with Labour.
It is possible that there would not be an agreement with London for this to go ahead though, which would mean that if we won, the matter would be contested in courts for years. We need the permission of the sovereign parliament for the referendum to be legal. Even one sanctioned by our betters in London stood the possibility, according to Labour lord Robertson, who also liked the idea of bombing the innocent civilians of Iraq, of being challenged in the courts. Mind you he's bonkers, so who knows if that would have had legs.
In fact it may be that the way to total independence is to force Westminster (not sure how) to give us devo max, if only a bit at a time, and finally when we only have defence (ie WAR) and Foreign policy (ie doing what America' tells us) left, it should be easy enough to persuade the people that it wouldn't be a huge step to get out of it all together.
The trouble is that all the time we wait our people are being starved by the neo cons and our oil money is being thrown away on wars and bankers and royals and lords.
Not easy.
Bur no, we do not need to wait to try.
:)
Mr. Tommy Sheridan - a colourful and controversial man.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing going for him is his passion for right, justice and Scotland.
I commend his words above and consider there must be a pooling of skills and talents as well as a sole objective to recover what we have (temporarily) lost.
I look forward to being of assistance to my Country when I return home as a anew retiree.
Ian
Basically I think Tommy is a good man at heart.
DeleteHe's done a lot for Scotland over the past few months.
I agree we must work together to ensure that the people who call themselves the people's party but who appear to stand for Tory values, are consigned to the dustbin.
In my view, a political movement should blend idealism with pragmatism. On the right, pragmatism outweighs idealism, leaving a moral vacuum which selfish creeds like Thatcherism to thrive. On the left, it is too often the case that pragmatism is in short supply, making left-wing parties worthy but ineffective. (I think there is an idea for a future post on my own blog lurking in here.)
ReplyDeleteI have only been present at one event which was by addressed by Tommy Sheridan, but I was impressed by him as a speaker. He is clearly a man who has strong political beliefs and no shortage of idealism. By his announcement he has shown that he also recognises that the goal can be worth a few short term compromises along the way.
Thank you, Tommy, for all that you will do in the future for Scotland, as well as for the work you have already done.
That was well put.
DeleteI think sometimes Brits don't realise that there IS another way to run a country than the top down class ridden way that it has always been done here.