Sheridan

[Noah]

Read this from the newswire sectio, head over there if you want the full article.

A jubilant Tommy Sheridan stood, fists raised, on the steps of Scotland's highest court yesterday and claimed a "working class" victory after winning his £200,000 defamation action against the News of the World.

Can anyone clarify as to how it is a working class victory?

Can anyone tell me did Sheridan's wages stop because of the scandal, if they didn't is he going to donate the money to his party or is he buying a new car?

And lastly, what does everyone think of him?

I like his accent.

[Global_Justice]

he looks at it as a working class victory because the jury were working class and he's working class and he beat a multi-national corporation with unlimited resources to spend on lawyers etc.

he gives half his £50,000 a year MSP wages to the party and lives in a working class area i believe.

i think he's cool, although beating news corp has come at a cost because some members of the party gave evidence against him so it's split the party. the whole affair has done alot of damage, the SSP was sleeze-free compared to the major parties but not really anymore. either he had several affairs and lied in court, or 5 members of the party were probably paid off by news corp and lied in the court.

[Sir Aunty Christ]

There was talk last night about the SSP splitting and the question was asked if Sheridan would remain in the SSP either as leader or a leading member or if he would lead a breakaway. I think that, if what the SSP is saying about Sheridan having the support of the majority of the party is true, then the former option is probably most likely.

Not really knowing the history of the Scottish Socialist Party I don't know if they've fallen into the parliamentary trap but as far as I know Sheridan himself is a pretty sound bloke.

[YKTMX]

Can anyone clarify as to how it is a working class victory?

Because a working class socialist lined up against the forces of reaction in their most naked form and showed, as he said, that working class people, those on the jury, can differentiate between an Empire of Filth and lies and a man of honesty and integrity.



Can anyone tell me did Sheridan's wages stop because of the scandal, if they didn't is he going to donate the money to his party or is he buying a new car?

Stupid.

Tommy, and the rest of the SSP MSP's, give more than half of their salaries away, taking only the average wage of a skilled worker in Scotland and donating the rest to the party. Tommy will use this money to pay off some of his debts and no doubt put most of it towards political efforts.

Why do you think his wages should have been stopped during the time of the court case? Rupert Murdoch slanders him, so Tommy's baby should go hungry? I don't follow.


And lastly, what does everyone think of him?

I think he's brilliant.

:)

[Vanguard1917]

My sympathies lie with Sheridan.

However, that does not change the fact that the libel laws which Sheridan used in his favour are reactionary and need to be abolished.

[RebelDog]

Tommy Sheridan will contest the leadership of the SSP in October, at a special conference. He will win easy as his support within the SSP is a solid majority. As for the other SSP members of the Scottish Parliament who sided with the enemy, obscurity beckons. They must already regret their actions.

[Noah]

Why do you think his wages should have been stopped during the time of the court case? Rupert Murdoch slanders him, so Tommy's baby should go hungry? I don't follow.

Firstly because he got alot of money and I thought he might have been dropped from his job ... somehow.

I never said his wages should be dropped but IF his wages were dropped, I was asking because he got alot of money.


I think he's brilliant.

Great :rolleyes: Cheers for telling me why anyway.


Stupid.

Hmm I don't like your condescending attitude, why are you calling me stupid? I asked a legitimate question no need to call it stupid.

[blake 3:17]

The Party had also asked Sheridan not to pursue the case. If one accepts this Sheridan broke party discipline over some rather silly personalistic stuff.

[Sugar Hill Kevis]

Originally posted by blake 3:[email protected] 7 2006, 07:44 AM
The Party had also asked Sheridan not to pursue the case. If one accepts this Sheridan broke party discipline over some rather silly personalistic stuff.
'silly'

stuff like that tends to ruin a politician, plus all this has given the SSP as well as Sheridan a humongous degree of publicity which they could not have attained beforehand... plus I think taking on Murdoch (especially and winning) is never a bad idea...

[RebelDog]

some rather silly personalistic stuff

If this was the case the 'News' of the World would not print it. One does not go to court and win £200,000 of damages for 'silly personalistic stuff'

It is not for the SSP or any other to tell Tommy Sheridan what legal course of action he should take when attacked by the right-wing gutter press. That is up to Tommy.

[Marion]

I'd agree the decision was (and should have been) Sheridan's alone, but part of his calculation was doubtless the effect it would have on the SSP as a whole.

Let's not forget that the NotW will appeal and will stand a reasonable chance of winning.

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by [email protected] 7 2006, 10:40 AM


Let's not forget that the NotW will appeal and will stand a reasonable chance of winning.
Correction: they stand very little chance of winning. They've had the chance to present their case to a jury of their peers and they couldn't convince them. Unless there was a retrial with a different jury, it's almost impossible for the decision to be overturned - happily.

[bolshevik butcher]

I'm not sure how aware most comrades are of the sitaution in scotland. But to put it basically sheridan lied in court and openly slandered several honest socialist comrades in the proccess of winning this money. This has done the scottish socialist movment no good what so ever.

[RebelDog]

This has done the scottish socialist movment no good what so ever.

True.

The whole thing has been a circus.

[Marion]

Originally posted by YKTMX+Aug 7 2006, 03:05 PM--> (YKTMX @ Aug 7 2006, 03:05 PM)
[email protected] 7 2006, 10:40 AM


Let's not forget that the NotW will appeal and will stand a reasonable chance of winning.
Correction: they stand very little chance of winning. They've had the chance to present their case to a jury of their peers and they couldn't convince them. Unless there was a retrial with a different jury, it's almost impossible for the decision to be overturned - happily. [/b]
Not sure entirely how it works, but I felt the verdict could be overturned in court? And that they'll have a different jury?

Given the verdict was by no means clear-cut (7-4 to Sheridan) I think its entirely fair to say that the NotW have a reasonable chance of winning, although so will Sheridan.

Tbh, didn't know who to believe. Some of Sheridan's arguments were relatively sensible, but some of the supposed arguments were crap. If one witness said Sheridan gave her wine and was therefore lying as "Tommy doesn't know one end of the bottle from another", it doesn't say much for the ingenuity of Sheridan. Is it not pretty obvious how to open a wine bottle? Has he never seen it happen in real life or a movie? Do you need some sort of qualification in wine to order a bottle of it?

Anyway, all good light entertainment...

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by bolshevik [email protected] 7 2006, 03:11 PM
I'm not sure how aware most comrades are of the sitaution in scotland. But to put it basically sheridan lied in court and openly slandered several honest socialist comrades in the proccess of winning this money. This has done the scottish socialist movment no good what so ever.
Assuming that he did, do you think that it's wrong to lie in court?

[chebol]

I think this says it all, really.

http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/pdfs...summer06pdf.pdf (http://www.scottishsocialistparty.org/pdfs/Bulletinsummer06pdf.pdf)

Now, if Tommy wants to get himself elected as a Convenor again, and run alongside Galloping George, get his comrades put up on perjury charges and ruin the name of the SSP simply because he cannot face the prospect of the world knowing what he gets up to - fine. But he'll get no support from me. It is one thing for the NotW to go after socialists in an attempt to tear us apart. It is quite another for socialists, ostensible 'comrades', to attack each other in public and before the state.

I don't think Tommy's personal life should be anyone's business, but i don'tthink Tommy's personal problems should now be foisted on the whole party because he canot tolerate the truth.

Worse yet...
http://www.islamictorrents.net/details.php?id=6189

Also, from Colin Fox:

TO ALL SSP MEMBERS

I want to disassociate myself in the strongest possible terms from remarks falsely attributed to me today on Radio Scotland by Cardonald SSP branch member Joyce Drummond.

Joyce claimed to the listening public that I had told her I want a clearout of the Voice staff, the SSY officers and the party's EC. I heard of this radio broadcast whilst busy phoning comrades throughout the country to counter the outrageous, despicable smear by Tommy Sheridan through the right-wing, tabloid anti-SSP Daily Record, which is paying Tommy #25,000 for denouncing myself and other long-standing socialists who stood by the truth as 'scabs'.

A 'scab' is universally known in the wider trade union movement as a term of abuse for those who defy the majority and try to smash strikes - making it a vicious slur on my character and that of other good socialists that the Daily Record gleefully made their front page headline.

Not content with one defamation of my political character, to undermine me with the 'scab' label, those who want to return Tommy to the position of convener are now trying to undermine me in the eyes of other party members at the same time.

I call on all SSP members, regardless of their views during this court
case, to immediately, today, disassociate themselves from Tommy Sheridan's scurrilous smear.

Please do so by replying to this email, but also by considering ringing
Tommy on XXXXXXXX, to demand that he publicly withdraw this smear.

[chebol]

In the sake of fairness, I include the reply from the Sheridan camp:

SSPMajority - for the democratic renewal of the Scottish Socialist
Party

Dear Comrade and Friend,

The SSP has reached a crossroads. The Issues raised by Comrade Tommy
Sheridan's titanic victory over the gutter rag News of the World have
underscored a number of political differences, outlook and
methodologies within the SSP that have been increasingly apparent over
the last few years. The collaboration with the scabs of News
International during the trial by leading 'comrades' of the now
declared `United Left' faction, and their camp followers, saw a new
and saddening low reached in Scottish socialist politics.

These actions were a shameful and colossal misjudgement from any point
of view of socialist solidarity. Let us never forget that the party
NC voted overwhelmingly in 2004 to respect Tommy's right to take his
action, to keep his confidentiality and to keep the party out of the
trial. It was the actions of the cabal, in first of all taking and
keeping dodgy minute of the 9th November 2004, and then advertising
its existence to the media that saw the party dragged into what should
have been, in essence, a private action.

The Executive of the SSP is now a redundant body until we can elect a
new leadership in October. The EC ignored both the spirit and the
letter of the decision by the Emergency National Council of the party
to give Tommy "100% political support" in his fight against the News
of the World. We understand the ULN faction have now distributed the
illegitimate `minute' of 9th November to party members, together with
a sectarian rant, disguised as official party documentation. We call
on genuine socialists to treat this document with the contempt it
deserves.

Despite their inevitable protestations to the contrary, the ULN has
been a centralising and bureaucratising tendency. It became clear in
the course of Tommy's defamation trial that these individuals met and
caucused out-with the party structures prior to the Executive
Committees of the party including preparing the stage managing of the
meeting which saw Tommy Sheridan resign as Convenor of our party.

The time has come to take our party back!

SSPMajority arose from hundreds of rank and file activists pledging
their full support to Tommy Sheridan in his battle with News
International. It is not a platform, a faction, or a network, but
exactly what it says on the tin: the majority of SSP members who are
heartily sick of the antics of this minority grouping and who now want
to see the democratic renewal of the Scottish Socialist Party in time
to fight as an effective political force for working people and their
families at next year's Scottish Parliamentary and council elections.

The signatories to this Open Letter propose to harness that
democratic, renewing spirit and to utilise the SSPMajority blog and
e-mail list to build for National Council in August and Party
Conference in October.

We call on all members and branches to

* Take our People not Profits campaign, with its ten key demands, out
into the streets, workplaces and communities over the next period,
campaigning proudly in the best traditions of the SSP

* Demand the immediate resignation from their positions of all party
workers who co-operated and collaborated with the NPTW and their
lawyers, thereby ignoring the clear will of the party as
expressed at our Emergency National Council of 29th May.

* Ensure all other decisions of that Council are upheld.

* Defend the right of all party members to a private life, without
prurient party judgement or interference.

* Offer the hand of friendship and reconciliation to those party
members who have been genuinely politically mislead or misinformed by
the posturings of the ULN faction (declared and undeclared) and who
now want to work with the majority to reunify and build a broad, open
party

* Organise Majority supporting delegations both to the National
Council of the 27th August, and for Conference in October

* Campaign for the de-selection from the Executive, and all key party
positions, of ULN members and co-travellers, and for the democratic
election of a principled socialist leadership for the party.

Only by taking vigorous and decisive action now can the SSP be put
firmly back on track, and once again become a potential mass pole of
attraction for working people and socialists politics in Scotland and
Internationally.

Signed:-
Tommy Sheridan MSP
Rosemary Byrne MSP
Steve Arnott Highlands and Islands
Mike Gonzalez SW Platform, EC
Penny Howard SW Platform, EC
Sinead Daly CWI Platform, EC
Philip Stott CWI Platform, EC
John Aberdein Author and activist
Anne MacLeod Highlands and Islands
Gill Hubbard SW Platform, EC
Jim Walls TGWU Convenor, Open Case Minors Scotland
Lynn Sheridan Central Scotland , EC
Steve George Inverness

[Marion]

So you win your case against the appalling, Murdoch-owned, anti-working-class News of the World... and then sell your story to the Daily Record!