[page 1]
SPECIAL ISSUE 5p
SCOTTISH SOCIALIST: Editorial: 7 Madeira Place, Leith, Edinburgh Distribution: 40 Regent's Park Square, Glasgow
When it was passed, a majority of delegates, 80 out of 150 walked out. The expulsions were passed on a card vote where each branch's voting strength corresponded to their membership figures. Tiny villages in Sillars' South Ayrshire constituency had members in excess of Glasgow's.
The expelled branches and their supporters won the support of over half the delegates, representing on Alex Neil's estimate 25% of the membership, but probably nearer half the actual stated membership of 900. The active membership Sillars has in Glasgow after the expulsions can be counted on two hands. The NOC have reduced their supporters to a rump.
The split was not caused by "disrupters" caused by "Marxists' by the NOC and the party's two MP's. It was engineered to remove from the party any genuine socialist force which could threaten Sillars' delicate balancing acts with the SNP. The SLP leadership has shown that it can tolerate neither democracy nor socialism, and the hopes and goodwill which the party has accumulated in the last six months now lie with the delegates who walked out after the purges and convened a separate meeting in Stirling's Station Hotel. From this meeting, a call went out for a fresh conference on November 14th.
- The split was not
[page 2]
(Extract)
ted by the split.
Labour Party."
Dear Comrade,
Edinburgh.
SCOTTISH SOCIALIST DOSSIER ON THE SPLIT
Scotsman, 2nd November, 1976
One of the leading members of the disbanded branches, Mr. John Nair, of Cumbernauld, said yesterday that Mr. Sillars would be faced with more trouble when Congress was reconvened soon to complete the agenda interrup- Mr. Nairn said that "numberous branches" would raise the cause of the disbanded branches. There would have to be more expulsions until Mr. Sillars was left with a "South Ayrshire
SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY RE-CONVENED CONGRESS 76
As you are aware, the leadership of the Scottish Labour Party, immediately prior to and throughout the sessions on Sunday the 31st October at Congress 76 allowed and then caused the proceedings of this party to disintegrate into unconstitutional and illegal confusion. In the face of this crisis, a majority of the delegations present at congress determined the necessity of ensuring the survival of the Scottish Labour Party, and issued this *We do not recognise the expulsions and suspensions imposed by the NOC of the Scottish Labour Party at the founding Congress of the SLP and regard them as a breach of natural justice. "We consider that Congress stands adjourned as from the final session on the Saturday evening. "We charge the NOC with attempting to destroy the Scottish Labour "We intend to continue the operation of the expelled branches of the party and to reconvene the SIP congress for a genuinely democratic discussion of the policies put forward by the branches. This will take place on Sunday 14th November in Stirling. We intend to appeal against all the expulsions and suspensions both the NEC and to the National Council of the SLP. We invite all branches of the SLP to invite speakers from the expelled branches to state their case. We invite all branches of the SLP to participate in the reconvened congress. There will be no exclusions from this congress, and we invite all party members, including those from the NEC."
Accordingly, as members of the Scottish Labour Party, you are cordially invited to attend the reconvened congress of the SLP, which is to be held between 10.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Lesser Albert Hall, Stirling, near the Golden Lion Hotel. The remainder of the unfinished business of Congress will be considered and you are asked to bring with you relevant copies of resolutions and discussion papers. Conference fee for visitors and members will be 50p. Since in the light of the situation, steps will be necessary to meet the altered needs of the party, emergency resolutions will be considered. If possible, we would like them to be in our hands before the start of congress.
Best wishes, John Nair, Convenor, Steering Committee, 8 Locksley Crescent, Cumbernauld.
Disbanded branches and their supporters claim that they now form the legitimate Scottish Labour Party. Attacking the expulsions, Mr. Nair said: "This decision was by the platform without the congress being allowed to hear the evidence against the branches or individuals and without individuals being named. And there was no right of reply."
A Conservative motion in the House of Commons, tabled yesterday, and supported by 35 back-benchers, congratulated the Scottish Labour Party for ex pelling "Communists. Marxists and fellow-travellers."
The motion called on the Prime Minister, as leader of the Labour Party, to take similar steps in the light of events in the Lincoln, Sheffield, Newham, Hammersmith and Haynes constituency parties, whom the Labour Party invite to support them at elections may know the true complexion of their candidates".
Scotsman, 3rd November, 1976
Sir, - If the witch-hunt which disfigured the Scottish Labour Party Congress in Stirling, and nearly put paid to the party itself, was not the most ineptly staged "happening" in political history, it will do until the most ineptly staged happening comes along — if it ever does.
The International Marxist Group presence in the Scottish Labour Party was neither big enough nor powerful enough to warrant the treatment it got. The sledgehammer blow dealt by the party leadership certainly made contact with the IMG, but unfortunately it made a sorry mess of the party's limbs into the bargain.
The question-begging word, used insistently by those supporting the platform line, was "revolutionary" Any Socialist worthy of the name wants, and works for, a revolutionary transformation of society. That is what he is striving for, that is his ultimate aim. If it is not so, then he — or she — should fly different colours.
There are some who hold that the IMG are the modern equivalents of the "primitive rebels" - the present-day counterparts of the soldiers of that avenging "Army of Redressers" Swing and General Ludd. This is an arguable proposition. It is not, however, the point at issue here. If individuals who may previously have been members of the IMG - or indeed of other political groupings, such as the Scottish Workers Republican
"so that those
NEAL ASCHERSON
20 Melville Terrace.
of earlier days
commanded by Captain
[page 3]
- decide to join a new party, it party is surely quite unfair to them, as well as impolitic generally, to assume from the word go that they will not accept party disciplines.
If, having participated in congress debates, and argued for their point of view, they do not accept congress decisions, and are seen to be working actively against such decisions, disciplinary action is bound to follow, once the evidence has been properly sifted. But in this case nothing resembling hard evidence was ever brought forward.
As first chairman of the Edinburgh Scottish Labour Party I got to know most of the people concerned personally. Indeed, in the case of one of I marched side by side with his father in the demonstrations protesting against Chamberlain's betrayal of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in 1938. I respect him now as I respected his father then, and know him to be a sincere and devoted man, willing to sacrifice much for what he believes in. Nothing, but nothing, will stop me regarding him as a comrade.
It is not too late to heal this lamentable breach. Neal Ascherson's article today - "Exit the entrists" should be but we'll let that flea stick - is only too clearly that the leadership over-reacted to a largely imaginary threat, and that the whole ghastly business was unnecessary. Jim Sillars and Alex Neil have already admitted an error of judgment with regard to one Press conference. If they can have the consequence, and the strength of mind and character, to admit that they made a major error of judgment when confronted by the existence of a small but vocal Left minority in the party - and act on that recognition - the two conferences due to take place in Stirling in a fortnight's time can be one congress.
And Alex Neil and Jim Sillars will reassume their rightful position as leaders of a healthy, vigorous and united party, eager to get to grips with he problems and opportunities tacing a Scotland moving forward towards independence.
HAMISH HENDERSON
Scotsman, 3rd November, 1976
Sir, - One aspect of the peculiar events of the Scottish Labour Party Congress was not made at all clear by Neil Ascherson's report today. It concerns the significance of the elections held on the Saturday for the National Executive of the party.
The import of
Lomond View, Collessie, Fife.
What has become clear, although it is not yet possible to say which votes were counted and which were not, is that the results did not please certain members of the out-going executive. Thus the manoeuvres of Sunday morning and the expulsion of four delegations without debate were deliberately construed tactics to prevent certain individuals taking their place on the National Executive. No indication of the election results was given to delegates at all.
The removal of opposition was quickly covered up by the overused factic of "Left-bashing" in the Press and the media with the claim that all those who left the conference (amounting to about half of the entire congress) were either International Marxists or fellow travellers." assertion is completely untrue.
Many delegates, like myself, had been members of the British Labour Party and had joined the Scottish Labour Party in the hope of building a more radical, and more democratic, party within the Scottish context. Unfortunately the tactics used to prevent open debate and constructive criticism turned out to be more in tune with the Soviet Union in the 1930s than with Scotland in the 1970s.
Like Jim Sillars, I believe in the need for a Scottish Socialist Party, but Talso believe that this will only occur within the context of genuinely democratic organisations. It seems that on this last point we quite substantially disagree.
Glasgow Herald, 8th November, 1976
Sir, - Since I am chairman of the disbanded Cumbernauld branch of the Scottish Labour Party, I would like space in your columns for a personal statement, not to defend myself, but to warn the Scottish people what sort of a party the SLP has now become.
When we were expelled we did not know of what we were accused. Only unrough the media did we finally find out that we are all accused of being infiltrators from the International Marxist Group, and more broadly, "Left-wing extremists"
At the Congress an emergency resolution was put that four branches be expelled. Wild applause, bays of "Get them out - out - out!" The chairman then said, in view of the apparent popularity of this resolution, would some one move we go straight to the vote? There was no discussion: calls for evidence were shouted down.
MARTIN SIME
4 Ronaldsay Place, Cumbernauld.
When I spoke to one party officer in an attempt to restore democratic forms before this unjust action was taken and the papers were going into the ballot-box even as I spoke - I was roughly pushed aside and refused a hearing. I then looked around me at an incredible scene. One of my own branch, a man who had made a number of valuable contributions to the congress, had reached the delegates" microphone, but was surrounded by four men who looked likely to assault him if he attempted to use it.
In the rest of the hall some were debating hotly in small groups, but others were stamping around, yelling their hatred for all to hear. In all my years in politics, incidentally almost wholly in the Labour Party, I have never witnessed such a disgusting sight.
It may be that I am considered one of the "innocent casualties of war" to which Jim Sillars so airily referred on radio - for I cannot believe he or anyone else really thinks 1 am a member of IMG - But let me tell him now that there is no chance of reforming Cumbernauld branch under his leadership.
Sillars has claimed that the expelled branches all consist of IMG members, but this is utter nonsense. So what have we done? One of our "disruptive Friday of the congress when we defended people's right not to be thrown out without evidence and without any chance to speak in their own defence. To defend IMG suspects' human rights is to be suspected oneself, therefore our heads rolled on the Sunday.
But to be fair, l must own up to what appears to have been our branch's main crime. This was to attempt to stop the party leaders from making personal statements about items on the congress agenda which somehow became transmogrified into party policy before the branches had even seen these items, let alone congress given an opportunity to debate and decide its views. No one expected Sillars and the rest to be exactly pleased by such a motion, and they had already chosen to ignore our protests before congress even began (I can provide proof to anyone interested) but we were truly surprised by the hysterical reaction it did receive.
Obviously I still believe there is a need for a strong and democratic socialist organisation in Scotland. It's a pity that in spite of all the great efforts and sacrifices made by people up and down the country, who left the Labour Party and other parties with high hopes last January, we still haven't got one.
MARIA FYFE
[page 4]
support for the EEC that their policy of "socialist independence" differed from the policies of the SNP. A decision was made not to stand candidates in SNP held seats. The decision to stand against two left-wing Labour MPs was a statement of preference for the only people who could benefit - the SNP. Only a week. before the congress, Jim Sillars spoke at a meeting of the SP ginger group, the Fletcher Society, at which the question of dual membership and joint work between the SNP and the SLP
To corsolidate this turn to the nationalists, the SLP leadership had to deal with their left wing. First, with the Cumbernauld Branch which had been centrally involved in supporting the dustmen s strike there against an SNP controlled council. The SNP saw Cumbernauld SLP as bitter opponents, especially since they were preparing to contest the local elections against them next March. It meant ditching SLP members from the labour and trade union movement who could not stomach support for the capitalist EEC's right to dictate policies to a
For their own ends, the NOC majority have split the party and dragged its banner through the dirt. They have turned their backs on all the initial intentions and aspirations of those who joined the SLP to build a strong socialist party in Scotland. They have forfeited their right to lead the party forward.
The only real hope of a socialist future for the SLP rests with the expelled branches and delegates and their supporters and their call for a democratic reconvening of conference on November 14th. These supporters of party democracy and socialist policies have the support of a majority of active party members from branches all over Scotland. Despite press hysteria about "International Marxists" and the "lunatic left" attracted widespread support since the congress; plans are being discussed for a conference against the cuts and a major compaign against unemployment They have declared themselves for a democratic reunification of the SLP on the basis of full democratic rights for all members.
This fight for reunification and socialist policies is the only real alternative to a rump Jim Sillars Labour Party, born in an atmosphere of nysterical red-baiting, where no criticism is allowed and the only future lies in a shotgun marriage with the SNP.
they have
CHRIS BAMBERY
BEHIND THE S.L.P. SPLIT
The SLP was formed by Labour Party members who realised that the right wing policies of Wilson, the party's resistance to devolution, and a string of corruption scandals threatened that party with electoral It was a reaction to the disaster. growth of the SNP and its successes in winning support away from the parties of the Labour movement.
The SLP drew together people from all sorts of political backgrounds. Some came from the Labour Party, some from the SNP, others from the new lett; many had not had any previous political affiliations. It saw itself as a clear socialist alternative to the government and the SNP; there was much talk of John McLean and reviving the Scottish Socialist tradition. In reality, it set to work more as a left Scottish duplicate of the LP.
The SLP split into two at its first congress in Stirling because the leadership wanted to change course. Their vaguely left-wing, vaguely prodevolution politics had not produced the results they had anticipated. Despite press talk of 2,000 members, only 900 fully-paid up members were represented at conference. By-election results showed a basic level of support of some 15% but no real signs of this figure increasing. Sillars left speeches and his votes against the cuts in parliament had brought about a more rapid growth in the left-wing of the party than the right.
Faced with the possibility that their pet policies and "Scottish Government" their stranglehold on leadership positions might be rejected by conference, the leadership embarked on an alliance with those in the party who put the "unity" of the Scottish nation above the interests of the working class. A purge of the left was to be combined with a sharp turn towards the politics of the SNP.
In the final speech at conference, MP John Robertson emotionally explained that he only wanted to see a Scottish parliament before he died. In speech after speech, opposition to the ÉEC was condemned, often by those like Jim Sillars who only 18 months earlier had been in the forefront of the "no" campaign in the EEC referendum. Repeatedly the SLP leadership explained that it was only in their
Published by Seottish Socialist, 7 Madeira Place, Leith, Edinburgh.
What is more Jim
"Jobs and Industry" and
was discussed.
"socialist" Scotland.
(1)
(2) (3)
DISRUPTIVE?
We reprint the emergency resolutions from Kelvin and Cumbernauld which were used to justify the suspension of these branches for "disruptive practices". The Kelvin resolution was passed almost unanimously. A Standing Orders Committee decision that the Cumbernauld resolution was out of order was rejected by conference. KELVIN EMERGENCY MOTION ON THE CUTS This conference reasserts its total opposition to the Labour Government's cuts in social expenditure. In this light it opposes with greater determination the proposed further cuts which we are starting to receive. It calls on the NEC to organise a one-day conference with all interested trade union, political and other organisations within the next month. pledges its support to activities against the cuts. calls the NEC to instruct the secretary to circulate the branches with information he receives from other areas so that branches can get a complete national overview.
CUMBERNAULD EMERGENCY RESOLUTION This conference, in view of recent events, instructs that no national official of the party shall make unauthorised personal statements to the press regarding party business.
Further, that in future, no prior notice of congress agenda shall be released to the press until it has been circulated discussed and amended by party branches. Only the final agenda for congress shall be issued to the press.
Printed by Buncle Print, Arbroath
[page 1]
Notices
Jim Sillars' national organising committee:
The National Organising Committee of the Scottish Labour Party have split the party down the middle. At the founding conference in Stirling at the beginning of November they subordinated the need for clear political discussion to their own narrow clique interests. In a savage purge they: *Expelled five branches of the party without discussion, for alleged "disruptive tactics they fought for socialism and democracy within the party. A snap resolution was block voted through on Sunday to remove the Cumbernauld, Stirling, Stirling University and Kelvin branches. The Leith branch and seven named delegates had already been suspended on Friday. *Denied these branches and delegates even the elementary right to hear or answer the charges made against them, the NOC produced no evidence at all. Jim Sillars and Alex Neil weighed in with resignation threats to whip dissenters into line. *Drove scores of honest and determined socialists out of the party ranks in disgust. were described by Dundee delegates who politically supported the leadership as "Straight out of the McCarthy *Produced a National Executive Committee representing nobody but themselves and accountable to nothing but itself, thereby depriving the party of any authoritative leadership.
The proposal to expel the four left-wing branches was discussed at a secret meeting of the Executive Committee from which a number of its members were physically excluded.
The tactics of the NOC
- simply because
. It was organised