The Fightback Starts Now
Posted by CelticEwan on May 8th, 2010
On behalf of everyone in the Aberdeen Branch of the Scottish Socialist Party, I would like to thank every one of the 268 people in Aberdeen North who voted for us in the General Election on Thursday. You can see the full list of results for the Scottish Socialist Party here: http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/
The other good news from the election night was Caroline Lucas winning the Brighton Pavillion seat to become Britain’s first Green MP and the utter failure of the British National Party in Barking, where they lost all 12 of their councillors and Nick Griffin completely failed in his bid to take the Westminster seat from Labour.
In this election we have stood on a socialist platform against the planned cuts in public spending, against the occupation of Afghanistan, and against Trident nuclear weapons. Instead, we have stood for taxing the rich, scrapping Trident, and bringing the troops home as an alternative to making ordinary workers, students and pensioners pay for capitalism’s crisis. We have also argued that it is time for a democratic socialist republic in Scotland, with genuine participatory democracy, equally shared wealth, and key sectors of the economy taken into public ownership, to raise living standards for all. For people, not profit, and for environmental protection, not ecological destruction.
At the time of writing it is uncertain who will form the next government, but whichever party it is will embark upon a program of savage cuts to public spending in order to cover Britain’s budget deficit, created from bailing out the banks. This will be the biggest attack on living standards in a generation as politicians attempt to prop up an ailing capitalist system, and the SSP will be resisting these cuts every inch of the way. However, succesful resistance will require a mass social movement which is also able to offer a socialist alternative to both the economic crisis and spending cuts. This is the task that the SSP will be undertaking across Scotland. If you want to be part of creating this mass socialist movement, then now is the time to join us. Here in the Aberdeen SSP we will be arranging our next meeting soon, and we are always welcoming of newcomers, so if you are interested in our politics and thinking about joining then come along.
