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manifesto
SSP
Manifesto
2007
1
part one
 About the ScottishSocialist Party
“Work as if you live in the early daysof a better nation”
 Alasdair Gray 
 W
e are the Scottish Socialistsand we fight in hope.We cutagainst the grain ofthe politi-cal consensus,refusing toaccept that ‘in the real world’,millionsmust live in poverty for a few to live inunimaginable wealth,that weapons of mass destruction must be moored in theClyde to keep us safe from weapons of mass destruction,that wars mean peace,and that a diminishing democracy deliv-ers us greater security.We believe we can make a betternation,where every state school childeats a nutritious,free lunch every day of the working week;where pensionersreceive a decent income with access towell-funded,free public services;wherefamilies are housed in warm,securehomes near green spaces and schoolsand shops;where refugees are welcomedand given the right to work and make anew life here,to the benefit ofus all;where war is an ugly memory;whereenergy is sustainable and nationalised;where we protect instead ofdestroy ourenvironment;and where expanded,fare-free and publicly-owned train,bus andferry services link every community inScotland,from the heart ofGlasgow tothe shores ofthe Outer Hebrides.But we meet you in a dark time.As the British government declaresterrorism the greatest threat to ‘our wayoflife’,across the world people arealready dying as a result ofclimatechange caused by that same way oflife.We have only a very short time left tostop the Earth from burning because of the destructive waste ofcapitalism.Since the last Scottish Parliamentaryelection in 2003,a brutal war has beenraging in Iraq,courtesy ofthe Britishand American governments.Hundreds ofthousands ofcivilianshave lost their lives,and their society hasbeen pounded to dust.
FIGHTING FOR AFUTURE: for a world without poverty, war andenvironmentaldestruction, for a world of peace,equality and justice
PHOTO:Craig MacleanBACK PAGEPHOTO:Eddie Truman
 
manifesto
SSP
Manifesto
2007
2
part one
The SSP opposed this war long beforeit started.So too did the majority of Scots.Yet the lives ofour troops,and billionsofour tax money,continue to be squan-dered on this ugly misadventure,this lastgasp ofa dying,discredited empire.It’s long since time we pulled out of Iraq and handed sovereignty to its peo-ple.In Scotland,we have no say over this.Such is the illusion ofdevolution.An independent Scotland would havefull control over its foreign policy andwhere and how it deploys its soldiers.
END OF THEEMPIRE: by pulling Scotland out of theunion, we can drag ourselves out of Britain’s illegal warsand end thetyranny of Tridenton our shores
PHOTO:Simon Whittle
There is now a consistent trendtowards pro-independence parties.Scot-land is calling time on the 300-year oldUnion – and for a myriad ofreasons,none ofthem to do with anti-Englishsentiment.We are calling time on a Union thatdrags us into illegal,immoral wars,fromFlanders fields to the white heat ofHel-mand.On a Union that ignores the call fornuclear disarmament and insteaddumps its world-shattering arsenal with-in miles ofour biggest city.On a Union that opens up a democrat-
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12 / 13 / 2010This doucment made it onto the Rising List!
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