| Scottish Socialist Youth | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Suite 370, Central Chambers, 94 Hope Street Glasgow, G2 6LD |
| Ideology | Socialism, Democratic socialism, Feminism, Environmentalism, Scottish independence, Scottish republicanism |
| Mother party | Scottish Socialist Party |
| Website | www.ssy.org.uk |
Scottish Socialist Youth (SSY) is the youth wing of the Scottish Socialist Party. They are an anti-capitalist, anti-racist and anti-globalisation organisation. SSY stands for the creation of an independent, socialist Scotland.
SSY publishes a magazine, Leftfield, with contributions from members and supporters as well as maintaining a blog of the same name. They also have a regular column in the Scottish Socialist Voice, the fortnightly newspaper of the SSP.
SSY enjoys good links with students in Scotland, particularly through various socialist societies at universities and colleges throughout the country, and has a strong online presence at their regularly updated blog.
They also organise an annual summer camp called 'Camp Secret Squirrel' in August open to all members of the SSY and other interested young people.
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SSY have produced a charter outlining their policies, many of which are broadly similar to the SSP's. They hold an annual demo in protest at the current drug laws, initially campaigning for the legalisation of cannabis, now broadened to demand new thinking on approaches to all drugs, prompted by the 2009 banning of mephedrone.
They were involved in the campaign against the G8 summit at Gleneagles. In June 2007, five members of the SSY were arrested at Faslane as part of the Faslane 365 campaign [1] They were also heavily involved in campaigning for the SSP during the 2005 general election and in the 2007 Scottish Parliament and council elections where a number of members stood as SSP candidates.
Currently they are campaigning against low pay for young workers, and are arguing for an £8 per hour minimum wage regardless of age. They have produced workers' rights cards to let young workers know what they are entitled to and how to get it. In November 07, the SSY in conjunction with the SSP LGBT Network organised a protest against Stagecoach after two young gay men were threatened with being thrown off a bus as one had their arm around the other [2].
The results of the 2010 UK election resulting in a coalition government led by the Tories, has led to the SSY campaigning against the new government and the cuts that they are inflicting. SSY received national media attention recently when they organised a short notice demonstration to coincide with David Cameron's first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, on 14 May 2010.[3]
Recently, SSY have also been involved in anti-fascist activity in Scotland, notably helping organise mobilisations against the far-right Scottish Defence League in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Kilmarnock as well as participating in UKUnCut actions targeting major retailers which practice large scale tax avoidance.
Although the SSY is affiliated to the Scottish Socialist Party, it is an autonomous body and is open to all socialists (who aren't members of opposing parties) under 27 living in Scotland.
The day to day running of the SSY is the responsibility of the National Organiser, assisted by the National Executive Committee which plays a leadership role. The NEC is elected at the annual National Conference with its membership split equally between men and women. The National Organiser is also elected at the conference. Additionally, SSY has branches across Scotland that conduct activity in their area.
SSY held their tenth annual conference in Glasgow in July 2011.
SSY also have a self-organised women's group, to which all young women are invited. They first assembled at Camp Secret Squirrel, the SSY summer camp, in 2005 and have continued to meet since.
The aim of the Women's Group is to create a space for young socialist women to talk about the issues that affect them. The Women’s Group feel that, in a male dominated environment, young women can be sidelined and may feel that their opinion is less valid. The SSY Women’s Group aims to give young women confidence in their abilities.
At the SSY Conference 2005, the Women's Group decided that their main campaign would be on sex education, in particular, discouraging and campaigning against abstinence-only education which is currently being funded by the Scottish Executive to run in some state schools. Their campaign 'Fuck Abstinence!', involves giving information on reproductive rights to young women denied adequate sex education, has led some of the young women involved being sent graphic intimidatory literature by an anti-abortion group.
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