Uniting for socialism in Scotland

BRISBANE — Lani Russell, a researcher for the Scottish Socialist Party in the Scottish Parliament, and an activist in the SSP, spoke about her experiences in the SSP since leaving Australia in the 1990s at an April 2 public forum sponsored by the Socialist Alliance.

The SSP has six members of the Scottish Parliament and plas a leading role in the anti-war and other social protest movements. Russell, who had previously been involved in socialist politics in Australia, said that the SSP "was something I'd never seen before on the left. People from all different parties, and no parties, coming together in one organisation."

The SSP's "MSPs can't forget where they come from, and the nature of the SSP" as an activist, people's party, Russell said. She called for greater collaboration between the SSP and the Australian Socialist Alliance, for the benefit of all.

Jim McIlroy

From Green Left Weekly, April 20, 2005.

Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

From GLW issue 623