Comrades and friends,
A historic victory has been won against the scab empire of Murdoch’s News International!
The jury’s verdict is a victory against press intrusion, against hypocrisy, against lies. As such, it is not just a victory for me and my family – it is a victory for workers, trade unionists, and genuine socialists everywhere.
The battle against News International has ended – but our collective battle for the heart and soul of the SSP is only just beginning.
Victory was won, despite the parade of political scabs who were prepared to testify to a dodgy and illegitimate minute, in effect collaborating with the NOTW. It is now crystal clear, if it was not before, that the United Left Network faction and it’s co-travellers used my dispute with the NOTW to attempt to undermine me both inside and outside the party.
They have been prepared to put their personal hatred and political differences ahead of party unity and fundamental socialist solidarity. In doing so, they have dragged the name of this party through the mud at home and internationally.
We who represent the majority of the SSP must now take our party back, we must bend our every muscle and sinew to the democratic renewal of our party and the rebuilding of the SSP as a broad socialist party working people can believe in.
Never again must a single faction dominate the leadership and apparatus of this party!
Never again must socialist betray socialist and side with the bosses’ press!
Gail and I would like to thank you all for your marvellous support during these difficult times. It has been an absolute inspiration. The faction perverted the word – but we will always stand UNITED.
I intend to speak formally with friends and comrades over the next few days and would hope to issue a wider political statement shortly. Meanwhile stay strong and thanks once again for your incredible continuing support.
Tommy Sheridan MSP
Tommy Sheridan Victory Speech
On behalf of my wife and I, can I first of all thank my two sisters and John Aberdeen, from Orkney, for being the best amateur legal team in the world.
We have over the last five weeks taken on one of the biggest organisations on the planet, with the biggest amount of resources to pay for the most expensive legal team, to throw nothing but muck against me, my wife and my family.
What we have done in the last five weeks is the equivalent of Gretna taking on Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and beating them on penalties
Well, brothers and sisters, what today's verdict proves is that working-class people, when they listen to the arguments, can differentiate the truth from the muck.
The working-class people on the jury who have found in our favour have done a service to the people of Scotland and have delivered a message to the standard of journalism that the News of the World represents.
They are liars and we have proved that they are liars.
I could never have conducted this case without the loyalty and support of my wife, my mother, my father, my sisters, my family and thousands upon thousands of working-class people in Scotland who want me to get out of this court and start fighting for the things that matter most.
Against poverty and inequality in Scotland, and against war and against nuclear weapons. Those are the things that matter most, brothers and sisters.
Fighting poverty.
I assure you we will retire for a few days to spend some quality time with our 14-month-old daughter, whom we have had to be apart from for most of the last five weeks, and that's been the largest and most difficult thing to countenance.
We'll spend some time, quality time, with our daughter Gabrielle over the next few days but then I guarantee you, the people of Scotland who believe in their hearts in justice, who believe in their hearts in fighting poverty and inequality and who believe in their hearts in the need to fight against war, I'll be back on the streets calling for the Israeli troops to stop killing innocent people in Lebanon, calling for the scrapping of nuclear weapons and to call for an independent socialist Scotland.
I want to finish, brothers and sisters, by saying one thing.
Gretna have made it into Europe for the first time in their lives, but what we have done in the last five weeks is the equivalent of Gretna taking on Real Madrid in the Bernabeu and beating them on penalties, that's what we've done.
