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Email: contact@dundeessp.org
Phone: 07780002101. If there’s no answer please text or leave a voicemail and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Post: Dundee SSP, PO Box 6773, Dundee DD1 1YL
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November 12th, 2009 at 5:34 am
It is sad to see very little mention of your candidate for the by-election in any of the daily rags,yet they give mention to Sheridan and Gallagher.Best of luck for the day.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Dear Comrades
As you will be aware we are facing a general election in a few weeks time. Ideally, we would be mounting a united socialist left challenge to the parties of big business, all of whom are preparing to carry out savage cuts, whatever the outcome of the election.
Unfortunately, this is clearly not going to be the case. The SSP took the decision not to take part in the No2EU – Yes to Democracy coalition that was put together to fight the June 2009 European election. No2EU was an inititiatve led by the RMT union and also involved the Communist Party of Britain, Solidarity, the Socialist Party in England and Wales, the Indian Workers’ Association among others. Members of most of the core organisations who formed No2EU have, since last July, been involved in discussions about building a coalition for the Westminster elections. This culminated in the formation of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) which is standing candidates for the forthcoming Westminster elections. (See http://www.tusc.org.uk for more information, policies and sponsors etc). TUSC is backed by leaders of the RMT, PCS, POA and other trade unions as well as socialist left organisations.
The SSP was invited to take part in the founding meeting of the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition which was held on Saturday 30th January. This invitation took the form of a written letter from Clive Heemskerk of TUSC that was sent to the SSP offices in Glasgow on the 18th January and an email send to an address for your national secretary on the 13th January. Dave Nellist of TUSC also held a phone conversation with Colin Fox (Tuesday 26th January) asking if the SSP would attend the founding meeting of the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in Glasgow and in this conversation Colin Fox confirmed that the SSP had indeed received the invitation. The 30th January was also the date of an SSP National Committee at which, we were informed by Colin Fox, the SSP were going to draw up plans to stand in a number of seats. He also indicated on Tuesday 26th January that the SSP would not be taking part in TUSC. It is not clear whether your NC discussed the invitation to take part in the TUSC or not ? We are making this point because it seems that some SSP members have been told that there was no invitation for the SSP to take part in TUSC. This is not the case. (I have attached the correspondence which was sent to the SSP to this email)
Nevertheless, it seems that the SSP will be standing in these elections under its own banner. The approach of TUSC has been to try and seek information about where other left organisations are discussing standing, and in the event of those organisations not wishing to participate in the TUSC coalition, to seek agreement, through negotiation, to avoid standing in the same seats. In the event of possible clashes these negotiations should ideally take place on the basis of which candidate is best placed to maximise the socialist vote in any given constituency, their record, their role in the socialist and working class movement etc.
According to your national co-spokesperson, you are planning to stand in Dundee West and that your candidate would be Angela Gorrie. If that is the case we would ask you to reconsider and, ideally, be prepared to enter into negotiations with TUSC in Dundee. The reason for this request is that, as you will be aware, a leading member of TUSC, Jim McFarlane, has a long record of standing as a socialist left candidate in Dundee West and it is our intention to stand Jim for the Westminster elections, and we wish to avoid a clash of candidates on the left.
Jim McFarlane is a leading trade unionist in the city. He is a local government worker, a long standing trade union activist and is currently chair of Dundee Unison, the biggest union branch in the city. Jim has also been the sole socialist candidate in Dundee West in the 1999 and 2003 Scottish parliament elections and in the 2001 and 2005 Westminster elections as well. Jim has lived in Dundee West all his life having been brought up, and still living, in the Ardler area of the city.
Against the backdrop of savage public sector cuts, having a leading public sector trade unionist standing in this election would also be a significant advantage. There is no doubt in our mind that Jim McFarlane is by far the best placed to maximise the socialist vote in Dundee West.
We would therefore ask the SSP in Dundee to reconsider your position and discuss this request for a left unity agreement that could see the SSP contest the Dundee East seat. We note that a leading member of the SSP is John McAllion, who was the MP and MSP for Dundee East. Although John may not be planning to stand himself – an SSP candidate in the East endorsed by John would no doubt help in your campaign.
Can you discuss this at your earliest opportunity? You can email me or get in touch via mobile to either arrange a meeting with the SSP and TUSC in Dundee, or correspond by phone or email.
Yours Comradely
Philip Stott
(for the Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition)
February 18th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Dear Comrade,
Thank you for your email dated 16th February.
Dundee SSP has stated on many occasions its belief in the folly of socialist candidates standing against each other. SSP members have attended unity meetings in Dundee in good faith and have stated clearly that under the current circumstances the best we can hope for is a negotiated non-aggression pact.
We did not agree with the policies of No2EU or its lack of internal democracy. We have similar concerns regarding TUSC. However, now is not the time to enter into a polemic over these points.
You have been misinformed regarding our position in standing in the Westminster elections. At the time of the SSP National Council no decision had been made by the Dundee branches whether or not to stand.
We were not aware until your e-mail that TUSC had selected Jim McFarlane as a candidate. We accept that Jim McFarlane has stood in this area in the past – however not as an individual but as a Scottish Socialist Party candidate.
Subsequently, the Dundee SSP branches have decided to stand in only one seat in Dundee. However, we would be happy to reconsider should circumstance change or if an acceptable socialist unity candidate emerged. We would hope that TUSC would take the same position.
Last night we selected our candidate and decided to stand in the Dundee East seat.
Yours for socialist unity
Dundee Scottish Socialist Party
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