Introducing the Socialist Party (Netherlands)

The Socialist Party of the Netherlands is one of Spectre’s sponsors. During the three years we published a traditional-format magazine the SP helped to lay out, print and distribute Spectre at or below cost price, and they have given us great help in establishing this website and quarterly on-line zine. Below, we print their own English-language introduction to a party which has more than doubled in size in under a decade.

The Dutch Socialist Party is enjoying an increasing popularity. Inside and outside parliament, the SP works to achieve its goal: a society in which human dignity, equality and solidarity take precedence. What is it that makes the party special?

Ranking fourth

With over 26.000 members, the SP is the fourth largest party in the country in terms of membership. Only the Christian Democrats (CDA), the Labour Party (PvdA) and the Liberals (VVD) are larger. But as the three giants shrink, the Socialist Party won’t stop growing. It seems that our political message is attracting more and more people every day - a good thing, because we are in urgent need of more heads and hands to get the job done.

We welcome everyone in our party who lives in Holland, subscribes to our views and is willing to pay the contribution of at least thirty guilders per annum (about £10, or $15). Our list of members includes factory workers and students, mechanics and dockers, accountants, young people at school and retired people. Each of them takes part in a branch and has the right to discuss and decide policy. Each branch elects its own board and representatives and delegates people to other democratic institutions within the party, including its ruling bodies, the Party Council and the Congress.

Counting seats in the national parliament, the Socialist Party ranks sixth after the PvdA, VVD, D66 (equivalent of Liberal Democrats) and GroenLinks (the environmental party). We have five MPs in the Lower House, two in the Upper House, one in the European Parliament and over two hundred representatives in city councils, sub-councils and provincial councils.

Furthermore, thousands of members are actively involved in the SP: in their neighbourhoods and workplaces, schools and universities, in environmental, health and other organisations. They are the force behind the growing impact our party has had.

Socialist outlook: the whole of Humanity

The Whole of Humanity is the SP’s political programme, the party’s key vision of concerning society and the alternatives we advocate. The SP describes its socialist outlook as beginning with three principles: human dignity, equality and solidarity. These are the values that in the course of centuries have evolved into crucial and essential elements of human civilisation and development. Rational and concrete analysis of capitalism and its effect on humanity and society enables us to carry out our struggle for a better world. Moral indignation over missed opportunities fuels our involvement, energy and fighting spirit. Rational analysis gives us vision, strategy and tactical skills. Human dignity, equality and solidarity are the core of socialism. They are the yardstick against which we measure events and possible alternatives.

Human dignity

By human dignity we mean the respect of one person for another, the right to participate in decisions affecting the organisation of society, a secure existence for everyone, and a fair chance for every person to pursue, in full respect for others and for all that lives, his or her personal happiness, with the corollary that everyone is responsible for his or her own thoughts and actions.

Equality of worth

A civilised society demands the fundamental recognition that all people are of equal worth, none more than another. For everyone to be treated equally, broad tolerance throughout society is needed, as well as the absence of every form of discrimination and neglect.

Solidarity

If we insist that everyone is of equal value, we recognise at the same time that not everyone is equal in every sense of the word, or in terms of opportunity. Because of this we must constantly organise solidarity between people, helping and caring for each other wherever necessary and giving everyone a real chance to lead a fulfilling life.

An active party

The Socialist Party tries to win the support of as many voters as possible. More votes increase our opportunities, in the various representative assemblies, to fight for a better world. Outside parliament the SP works hard to achieve a more just society by providing means and expertise to help people who dare to stand up against injustice and who want to change things for the better. The SP is an active party, nationally as well as locally. We campaign against rent increases and bad labour conditions, for of the protection of our environment and better health care, against the further cutbacks in social security and for a reasonable income for everyone, for equal opportunities in education, against the chasm between rich and poor all over the world, against social division and for a fairer society.

SP Alarm Hotline

The SP Alarm Hotline makes it possible for people to take an active part in politics. Anyone who sees or hears anything they feel that politicians should know about can call the free hotline. Very often we are the first to know the consequences of rules and regulations, of waste and pollution, of malpractice and mismanagement. Numerous tip-offs and complaints call for a response: questions in parliament, a plan of action, or the involvement of our the local branches accompanied by the necessary publicity.

Strong at grass roots level

Our opposition is felt at national level as well as on the regional and local levels. The bigger the support, the louder our oppositional voice. Elected SP representatives have their political paycheques transferred to the party coffers, so that they can be put to good use.

In some towns, the SP is not only the biggest party in membership but also in votes. In other towns we have only just started a new branch. Big or small, we value a good and firm relationship with the people, to know them and to work with them, solving problems.

Legal advice

Being in the right and actually getting one’s rights are different things. For the ordinary citizen getting one’s rights is the hard part, especially since funding for free legal help has fallen victim to cutbacks. Because of this the SP has set up a number of legal counselling offices to offer advice on matters such as labour and rental disputes, conflicts with local authorities, and tax problems.

Every year thousands of people make use of these free services. Much like the Alarm Hotline, the legal aid initiative provides us with excellent and up-to-date information on the everyday consequences of political decisions. It often happens that an individual case snowballs into larger communal action.

The Tribune

Through our monthly newsmagazine, the Tribune, we keep our members informed about politics in general and the SP in particular. The Tribune reports on the struggle outside and inside parliament, provides background information on ongoing SP campaigns, and serves to draw members’ attention to events, meetings and interesting new ideas.

SP in cyberspace

Anyone who isn’t satisfied with a monthly update on party affairs can surf to www.sp.nl . The elaborate website quickly provides visitors with the information they need - and is interactive as well. You can join the cyber debate with our MPs, contact the Alarm Hotline through e-alarm, send SPace Cards to family and friends and test your political knowledge with the politIQ test. Several branches have their own homepages with local news. Poster, the free weekly e-mail newsletter keeps thousands up to date on the most important SP- news, actions and viewpoints. The SP-site also contains information in Spanish and English.

At the workplace

Many of our members are actively involved in trade unions and work councils. Here they fight for fair wages and decent working conditions, which is absolutely necessary because while company owners are acquiring more and more rights, workers have fewer and fewer. Four times a year we publish Solidair, an action newspaper for the workplace, in which we outline SP views on labour, wages, and workers’ rights, and rally support for campaigns. Solidair also hosts debates about, for example, the advance of neo-liberalism and the role of trade unions in today’s society.Healthcare for all

Through the action committee Care for All the SP, together with numerous doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, is trying to counteract the social division in healthcare. The SP not only expresses its opinion about how healthcare should be provided, but also, by running two party-funded medical centres in the towns of Zoetermeer and Oss, puts its views into practice. Our salaried doctors give priority to preventative care, paying special attention to relations between health, work, and environmental and housing conditions rather than always prescribing yet another pill or potion.

Youth

Social division has serious consequences for a great number of children and teenagers. With the Alles Kids campaign the SP is trying to mobilise as many people as possible to create equal opportunities for all. In the book Campaign for our Youth we suggest a series of measures that counteract social division between children. Our branches do their bit at the local level by encouraging people to work to improve our children’s chances of a better future.

Young people themselves also play an active part in creating equal opportunities. SP-members under the age of 27 can join ROOD (‘Red’), a team of young and energetic socialists who earn their place in the limelight with various provocative actions. One of them is twenty-year-old Driek van Vugt, the youngest senator in history.

Crossing borders

Holland is no island. The SP has close connections with progressive organisations all over the globe. We exchange opinions, and fight side by side against such things as pollution and the pitting of one nation’s workers against another’s. In the European Parliament the SP exposes the neoliberal policies of the EU and shows that a European Union exclusively inspired by multinationals is bad news for the man and woman in the street.

The SP is also the main sponsor of the international radical left magazine Spectre, which is also supported by organisations in the United States, Sweden and the UK. Even outside Europe we have connections and offer a helping hand wherever we can.

Red Giants

As an active political party we have a great deal of admiration for other people and organisations who dare to stick their neck out for justice and solidarity. As a token of that admiration the SP is the main sponsor of the Rooie Reus (Red Giant) award, named after the legendary Dutch activist Dirk de Vroome (who died in 1986). The award is a sculpture and a cheque for five thousand guilders. An independent jury grants it every year to a person or organisation that had the nerve and the creativity to stand up against social injustice and to show true solidarity.

Addresses

SP Headquarters

Vijverhofstraat65

3032 SC Rotterdam

The Netherlands

phone: +31 10 243 55 55

fax: +31 10 243 5566

e-mail sp@sp.nl

SP parliamentary office

PO box 20018

2500EA The Hague

The Netherlands

phone: +31 70 318 30 44

fax: +31 70 318 28 03

e-mail kamer@sp.nl

SP European parliamentary office

GUE/NGL

European Parliament

rue Wiertz,

1047 Brussels, Belgium

phone: +32 2 284 74 92

fax: +32 2 284 94 92

e-mail eurofractie@sp.nl

SP Alarm Hotline

+31 800 022 50 05

SP website

http://www.sp.nl