SSP announces General Election challenge

The Scottish Socialist Party’s preferred option following last year’s historic referendum was to present ‘Independence Alliance’ candidates in the 2015 General Election, uniting the Scottish Greens, the SNP and the SSP.

It was and remains our belief this approach would have provide the best chance for our movement to unseat the greatest number of Labour MPs in Scotland and increased the chances of securing the maximum devolution of powers to Holyrood.

In the absence of such an agreement, the SSP will fight a limited number of seats in May, to present our own unique case for independence and to spell out the extra powers that a progressive Scottish Government could use to improve the lives of most Scots.

We favour powers which will benefit millions of Scots such as:

• The introduction of a £10-an-hour living wage for all and an end to zero hour contracts
• Opposition to austerity, cuts to local services and privatisation
• Building 100,000 high quality public housing for rent
• Replacing the Council Tax with an income based alternative called the Scottish Service Tax
• The expansion of green energy programmes including wind, solar and hydro electric generation under public ownership to combat fuel poverty
• Nationalise railways and make Scottish public transport free
• Scrap Europe’s most repressive anti-union laws

In contesting seats in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Paisley, the SSP puts forward policies to benefit Scotland’s working class majority and ensure our natural resources are used to benefit the people as a whole, not merely a tiny, rich elite and tax dodging corporations.

It’s time to move to a society which puts people and the planet before greedy profiteers—an independent socialist Scotland—that is the SSP’s message for the May election and beyond.