Sunday 13 May 2007

Sheridan to be charged.

Today's Sunday Mail carried an exclusive piece according to witch Tommy Sheridan will face perjury charges regarding his high profile libel case against the News of the World. You know, the one that dragged the SSP through the mad and led to excellent comrades being slandered and called scabs by the Orange One; aye that one. The Mail reports:

POLICE believe they have uncovered enough evidence to charge Tommy Sheridan with perjury after quizzing staff and customers at a notorious sex club.

Detectives say they have built up a case which could see the socialist politician face serious criminal charges. The case would be heard in the High Court and Sheridan could face a jail sentence if convicted.

This comes only a few days after Edinburgh Sucks claimed to have received information indicating that Sheridan would be charged within two weeks. While this estimate seems to be false, it is quite obvious I think that the strong arm of the law is up to something. The investigation was silently moving in the background in the run up to the elections, but it appears that now that the Tangerine Man is no longer an MSP, detectives are moving in for the kill.

But I don't really want to discuss the perjury case. I don't really care all that much about it. He'll certainly get no sympathy for me if gets convicted; he deserves every thing that comes to him. What concerns me most is that good comrades will possibly have to endure another torrent of lies, filth and sycophancy from Squalidarity.

At any rate, the salient issue here is that the decision of the SSP not to cave in to "the greatest asset"'s demands is again shown to be right. If the Executive Committee had decided to lie for Sheridan (in order to cover up his inability to keep his zipper up), apart from signaling the death of the culture of honesty, integrity and truth (all bourgeois morals, I know) of the SSP, would also have meant that our comrades too, would possibly be facing charges now. This would have fatally damaged the party's - and consequently socialism's - image in the eyes of the working class - we'd just be yet another bunch of politrickos.

Regardless of the possibility of a perjury case and its outcome, the case remains that the SSP is the only viable vehicle for the socialist cause in Scotland. Over the next months and years, we will have to rebuild, rethink, reorganize, restructure, and many more re's. But we most definitely won't retreat.

8 comments:

AN said...

This also totally vindicates the position that it was naive to think that Sheridan could get away with suing the MOTW, and once people knew he was intending to do so via perjury the truth was bound to come out.

Where this will be really damaging is in the question of conspiracy.

Any police investigation is bound to look at why witnesses who were at the 9/11 NC meeting testified to different accounts of what happened there. This will then involve an investigation into whether the witnesses who lied colluded together - which could lead to the police probing into the left organisations following the paper trail.

what a disaster

Korakious said...

You know, it struck me as quite surprising at the moment that the SWP central committee chose to follow such a reckless course of action; I expected that they would have instructed Pat Smith to tell the truth.

We'll see what comes out of this.

AN said...

I think that SWP members are entited to ask at what level in their organisation was that decision taken, and by whom, as it opens their organisation up to a police investigation.

But this also shows the problem with recklessles embarking on illegaility, becasue any attempt to discuss the situation and find out the truth involes further conspiracy.

Obviously sometimes left organisation have to operate outwith the law, but this was not necessary, nor sensible.

I note that Mike Gonzalez was much very cautious about the testimony he gave, but some of Sheridan's other witnesses may be facing gaol time.

Louisefeminista said...

Good post Korakious though I know you say "apart from signaling the death of the culture of honesty, integrity and truth (all bourgeois morals, I know)".. I would argue that transparency, honesty, and openess etc. are not strictly bourgeois but are important to building a socialist party.

Sheridan lied to the class when he decided, contradictory, to uphold a bourgeois family man image.

Korakious said...

I would argue that transparency, honesty, and openess etc. are not strictly bourgeois but are important to building a socialist party.

Well aye. You and I would argue that. But the Great Keepers of Marxist Wisdom, the SWP and CWI would disagree, and who are we to contradict them?

Louisefeminista said...

Yeah, Korakious, I agree. The Great Marxist Thinkers and their take on openess and transparency. They run bloody roughshod on what it is to be a genuine socialist and that annoys me so. They take the piss!

Charlie Marks said...

The whole thing is tragic... Is Sheridan going to court over the ballot count affair? He seemed strangely serene at 4am on 4th May on the BBC election coverage.

Unknown said...

Well, there was some talk about that, but now the MSPs have been sword in, nothing's going to happen.