Tommy Sheridan in ebullient mood at his SSP manifesto launch. Socialists stake their claim as voters' choice ============================= Alastair Dalton ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) THE Scottish Socialist Party yesterday claimed growing support for its policies, at the launch of its election campaign in Glasgow's Scotia Bar. The party, which will be contesting all 72 Scottish seats, said poll findings showed support had nearly doubled from 9 per cent to 15 per cent since the 1999 Scottish parliament elections, at which Tommy Sheridan became its first parliamentarian. The poll results came as Mr Sheridan received a court summons after being charged with breach of the peace at an anti-nuclear demonstration outside the Royal Navy base at Faslane in February. Mr Sheridan has been cited to appear at Helensburgh District Court on 11 June - four days after the election. He was one of 346 people arrested at the protest and served five days of a 14-day jail sentence in December after a similar demonstration last year. The System Three poll for the SSP found that, while 2 per cent had said they were "very likely" to consider voting for the party in 1999, and 7 per cent had said they were "quite likely" to consider voting for it then, those figures had now increased to 4 per cent and 11 per cent. The party also claimed growing support for two of its policy planks - replacing the council tax with a system based on ability to pay, and taking utilities back into public ownership. A total of 71 per cent of the System Three respondents agreed that council tax was unfair and should be replaced with an ability-to-pay based system, while 64 per cent agreed that railways, gas and electricity should be taken back into public ownership. On council tax reform, the 71 per cent figure comprised 43 per cent who agreed "strongly" that it should be replaced, and 28 per cent who agreed "slightly". On utilities, the 64 per cent figure comprised 41 per cent who agreed "strongly" with taking them into public ownership and 23 per cent who agreed "slightly" with this. The poll, of 1,028 adults, was conducted in 39 constituencies across Scotland between 26 April and 2 May. Mr Sheridan said the following: "This poll is fantastic news for the SSP and all socialists in Scotland. "Not only is the SSP growing in support, but our policies are hugely popular. "We will drag poverty firmly on to the political agenda and promote our socialist vision, where people and pensioners come before profits and big business. "We are the only socialist party in Scotland. " "The country's other four parties all embrace the free-market system and globalised capitalism, which is destroying jobs." Mr Sheridan said there were 300 million reasons why the SSP deserved support - representing the �300 million cut in public spending by Labour in Scotland compared with the last Conservative government. FROM THE SCOTSMAN, 11 MAY 2001
