Since August last year, many on the Scottish left coalesced around Your Party in an attempt to build an organised force that was capable of building roots in communities and challenging the right in the Scottish parliamentary elections. However, many of us involved in that effort concluded – largely because of the actions of the London-based leadership – that Your Party could not develop into a viable left alternative in Scotland.
Discussions have been taking place since the mass resignation of the Scottish Interim Executive Committee (ISEC) of Your Party in March this year about how the momentum created by Your Party can be retained. These discussions are now at a stage where proposals have been put forward that would lead to the launch of a new Scottish left party in a little under two weeks’ time.
From the perspective of Socialists for Independence, however, the methods and processes currently being used to build this new party risk creating an electoralist, rather than mass-orientated political party. The preparatory work for this, most of which has been organised largely through WhatsApp groups, has left little room for political discussion. The dedication and enthusiasm among comrades to be involved in organising something new is heartening, but the limited participation in meetings show signs of overstretch. We appreciate the time and effort which is being put in here by a dedicated group of socialists, but the methods being used here will leave an indelible imprint on the future success of this proposed party.
A key failure of Your Party was the membership’s lack of trust in — and ownership over — the organisation. Despite the best intentions of those involved, aspects of the current approach risk repeating the same mistakes. Online meetings may lower organisational barriers, but they do little to build the solidarity and comradeship necessary for a durable left party.
While SFI believes that the provisional group organising for the new party represents progress in terms of retaining some momentum from the gains of Your Party, it will be just one component among a much broader alliance of forces that currently make up the thousands of left activists in Scotland. Any serious mass party will need to reach far beyond existing left activists and those involved in the original Your Party project. In this sense we strongly urge those involved in setting up the new party to have a sense of proportion here: there is a significant part of the left who are not yet participating in establishing it and are likely to remain outside of it even after its launch.
SFI will continue to play a positive role in this party-building effort, but we do not believe that its launch alone will lead to a greater unity of vision about what a left party would look like, nor shared agreement over the common strategy that would be needed to help birth such a serious socialist alternative. We view the establishment of this new party as a positive development, but we do not believe that the form of the party needed to meet the challenge of our times has yet been settled.
SFI believes a credible and pluralist left party can only be built through collaboration, patience, openness, and honest political discussion. That process will often be difficult and protracted, but it must be conducted in a spirit of solidarity and comradeship.
Accordingly, the first step towards such a credible left party should be a convention of the Scottish left taking place in the autumn this year. This convention should act as a forum for ideas-sharing and constructive political engagement, with open-ended discussion about what a mass left party might look like, and what vision such a party might have. By involving parties, organisations and left activists far beyond those involved in the new party, such a convention would hopefully initiate a longer period of discussion and reflection about what the left is collectively trying to achieve and how we can connect socialist ideas to the working class. Â
Such an event would also allow all groups and participants to discuss the political context within which we are operating in Scotland, our place internationally, and what lessons we can draw from the experience of the left in Europe and beyond. It would provide the necessary space to begin the process of building trust among activists. It would allow for a greater understanding of the different political perspectives and traditions that make up our movement. And most significantly, it would begin to lay the necessary foundations of a shared political project equipped to meet the political challenges of the coming decades.
Members of SFI will continue to work constructively, comradely and enthusiastically with the new party, but will also continue to engage in dialogue with others across the left to make the case for the type of convention detailed above. We encourage others in new party to similarly engage in the ideas and proposals set out in this statement.
