From: Dogan Goecmen (dogangoecmen@AOL.COM)
Date: Sat May 05 2007 - 17:53:53 EDT
I know Tommy personally. I met him many times in Glasgow ind Edinburgh. Though I do not agree with everything what he believes, thinks and does, I must admit he is one of the most impressive socialist leaders Scotland has ever had on the left. He is in my view one of the few charismatic and revolutionary candidates to unite the left. I do not believe a single word of this rubbish. It is a campagn to split the left so that it does not become a serious factor in Scotland and Britain. Pity that bourgeosie could find allies within the left.
Dogan
-----Ursprüngliche Mitteilung-----
Von: wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK
An: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
Verschickt: Sa., 5. Mai. 2007, 21:22
Thema: Re: [OPE-L] Scottish election
The SSP split at the end of last year into the SSP and Solidarity, the latter
headed by Sherridan.
The reasons was a court case which had the whole nation gripped for a month
in which Tommy defended himself against libels put out in Maxwells papers to
the effect that he was a drinker, drug user, and frequenter of Swingers clubs.
He conducted his own defence, won the case and was awarded £100,000 damages
against Maxwells papers, but several SSP members of parliament appeared
as witnesses for the papers and against Tommy. After his victory in the court
case this caused so much bad blood between the MPs that they split. It
also polarised the membership between those who believed him, and those
who believed the allegations against him in the press.
Prior to the court case some of the MSPs had been spreading even more lurid
tales to blacken his name : that he dealt in drugs, that he was involved in
smuggling Ukranian prostitutes into the country etc. From what I know of him
as a leader of struggles going back years, these allegations seem unlikely -
he makes a point of being a non-smoker, non-drinker etc.
Prior to the split there did not appear to be any pressing ideological
issues at stake. I put it down to personal rivalries among the new MSPs
agravated by interference by the yellow press and perhaps agent provocateurs.
Bugs were found in Tommy's car, secret tapes of his discussions with
executive members were released to the TV etc.
Paul Cockshott
www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc
-----Original Message-----
From: OPE-L on behalf of Dogan Goecmen
Sent: Sat 5/5/2007 7:31 PM
To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Scottish election
"1. The socialists had split into two parties competing for the same votes"
Paul,
who were these two socialist parties and what was the reason that they had
split?
Dogan
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