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10/10/00
Scottish Socialist Party name their candidate for the Falkirk West By-election
Recently there has been feverish press speculation about who Dennis Canavan will endorse at the forthcoming by election. Although not wanting to pre-empt Dennis' announcement, the Scottish Socialist Party are confident that Dennis will recognise that we share many beliefs and principles. As a socialist, Dennis will surely realise that the only socialist candidate in the by election will be Iain Hunter of the SSP.
Iain Hunter's by-election campaign was launched last Wednesday, at a very successful public meeting. Over a hundred people crammed into the Old Sheriff Court to hear Iain and Tommy Sheridan speak about the issues that matter to the people of Falkirk. Iain's address, which was well received, covered a variety of concerns, including the run-down of Falkirk's health services, poverty and low pay and the question of indirect taxation, particularly on fuel. Tommy spoke of the need to redistribute wealth and the SSP's plans to introduce the Scottish Service Tax, which would replace the Council Tax. This tax would raise money for local services with a sliding scale, based on the ability to pay - exemptions would be available for anyone earning less than £10,000pa, with anyone earning under £20,000 paying less, on average, than they do currently.
The SSP are looking forward to this by-election. As the third party in urban central Scotland, we will give both Labour and the SNP a real challenge. This by-election will undoubtedly be a three horse race.
Falkirk Branch, Scottish Socialist Party
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