The World Socialist Web Site (no, really) poses the question, in the light of the Glasgow East bye-election (sic), “just how long it will be before Tommy Sheridan joins the Scottish Nationalist Party?”

Citing recent public comments made by Mr. Sheridan as an attempt to woo the Scottish Nationalist Party, the author of the piece, Steve James, claims “He [Sheridan] clearly has aspirations to revive his parliamentary career. Initially, he is attempting to do that by aligning Solidarity as close as possible with the SNP and, should circumstances allow, by joining it and acting as its left face.”

As we know from recent experience, Mr. Sheridan is not afraid to resort to litigation and therefore, I’ll be extra careful with what I say. I must confess, my first reaction was that of surprise and disbelief. Then I had a quick peek at the Solidarity website, only to discover that the home page leads with a quote from Mr. Sheridan which begins: “This is a historic victory in Glasgow East for the SNP and I congratulate John Mason. Let us be clear it is a victory for a party to the left of Labour.”