Glasgow Branch Meeting

Wednesday, 7 pm, 17th March
Maryhill Community Central Halls, 
304 Maryhill Road, 
Glasgow G20 7YE

There is one political party that takes the issue of leadership seriously ever since its formation over a hundred years ago - it has no leader.

The Socialist Party is a leader-free political party where its executive committee is solely for housekeeping administrative duties that cannot determine policy or even submit resolutions to conference. All conference decisions have to be ratified by a referendum of the whole membership. The General Secretary has no position of power or authority over any other member. Despite some very charismatic writers and speakers in the past, no personality has held undue influence over the Socialist Party.

Disappointingly, the Socialist Party is not the socialist "party" that Marx (or even our own Declaration of Principles) envisaged, i.e. the working class as a whole organised politically for socialism. That will have to come later.

 At the moment, we can be described as only a socialist propaganda or socialist education group. 

Possibly, we might be the embryo of the future mass "socialist party" but there's no guarantee that we will be (it is just as likely we'll be a contributing element). But who cares?

 As long as such a party does eventually emerges and at some stage, for whatever reason, socialist consciousness will reach a "critical mass", at which point it will just snowball and carry people along with it or arrive in a dramatic sudden avalanche of fresh new ideas. It may even come about without actually being labeled socialism. 

There are many common misrepresentations and parodies of the Socialist Party's positions which are typically dismissive and misinformed. So please come along to our branch meeting and discover for yourselves the case we present for socialism.

The function of the Socialist Party is to make socialists, to propagate socialism, and to convince fellow-workers what they must achieve their own emancipation. It does not say: “Follow us! Trust us! We shall free you.” 

We welcome any upsurge in the militancy and resistance and organisation of our class. But we also know, from bitter experience, that work of an altogether quieter, patient, more political kind is also needed. The skirmishes in the class war must be fought if we are not to be reduced to beasts of burden. But as a species capable of rational thought and long-term planning, we must also seek to stop the skirmishes by winning the class war, and thereby ending it. This is only possible if the capitalist class is dispossessed of its wealth and power. That means that the working class as a whole must understand the issues, and organise and fight for these ends themselves

Socialism must be achieved by the workers acting for themselves. We are unique among political parties in calling upon people NOT to vote for us unless they understand and agree with what we stand for.