SUPPORTERS of the SNP Common Weal Group are celebrating after winning one-third of the contested tickets in the party’s selection process.
All 11 candidates, who include incumbent MSPs Ash Denham, Joan McAlpine, Christine Grahame and Stuart McMillan, have signed the group’s pledge to work for a “resilient independent Scotland”.
The pledge contains six key policy commitments consisting of a Green New Deal, a National Care Service, land reform, tenants’ rights, public ownership and local economic reform. The other candidates are Stephanie Callaghan, Robert Leslie, Catriona MacDonald, Sarah Masson, Paul McLennan, Colm Merrick and Tom Wills.
SNP CWG Convener Craig Berry welcomed the outcome. He said: “We are delighted that SNP members across Scotland have chosen progressive candidates who have pledged their commitment to a resilient independent Scotland.
“The SNP CWG is growing rapidly and we are organising with members across Scotland who share our ambitions for Scotland’s future. This success shows there is a real appetite in the SNP grassroots for a Green New Deal and a just transition to a sustainable economy with the needs of Scotland’s people at its heart.
“These are issues that are engaging grassroots members and it is the direction I think the party needs to go.”
He said the party needed to accept that not enough progress was being made on land reform and the environment even though they were issues close to the hearts of many and could help motivate people in the campaign for independence.
“I think that is something that is vital because things have often been cast in a negative light in terms of Brexit and Boris Johnson and a lot of people feel not enough is being done to say what can we do and what the positive case for independence is.”
Berry said this was important because while some branches were thriving, others were in “freefall” with people lacking motivation.
“There is a bit of difference from what people at the grassroots think and what people in different areas of the party think, so we want to give a voice to grassroots members of the SNP,” he said. “We want to speak to local communities, understand what they believe in and build support for some of these ideas in the wider party. It’s really healthy for party democracy to have these discussions and also hold democratic mechanisms which can put ideas into party policy.”
The group has put forward amendments for the party conference later this month but Berry said he was disappointed in the provisional agenda which contains composite motions rather than stating what individual branches support.
“The way things have been handled has not been the best but that doesn’t mean we are going to stop fighting for the things we believe in,” he said.
Berry was also critical of the national assemblies.
Depute SNP leader Keith Brown has just announced one will be held in January to talk through the “route to independence”.
Berry said: “Although it looks quite good to say we are going to have a national assembly and we are going to talk about the independence strategy, the difficulty is that these don’t hold democratic mechanisms to make sure the voice of the grassroots is heard,” he said.
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