Vote Yes
A contribution to the debate on Scottish independence
Little over one year ago the SNP won an historic victory in Scottish Parliamentary elections deliberately designed to prevent such a scenario, but instead of the march towards Independence the Scottish people could have rightly anticipated what we have seen in fact is the retreat of the SNP leadership to seek an accommodation within the framework of British Imperialism. After these elections the position of Saorsa was that the onus was on the SNP to build support for independence with a radical, progressive, redistributive agenda to engage support amongst the great majority of the Scottish people – the working class. In particular this burden would fall upon the “silent majority” left-wing of the SNP. So, how goes that agenda? Well let us follow the SNP lead for a minute and forget all this “divisive” talk of class. Let us not worry about such matters as privatising ferry services to the northern Isles, the courting of figures such as Murdoch, Trump or the laird’s support group Scottish Land & Estate. After all the SNP is the party of all Scotland, the party which says the likes of Anne Gloag or Mohammed Al Fayed in their highland castles have the same interests as workers in Merkinch or Milnafua. Let us forget that if the capitalist class think any country is “good for business” then quite simply this means that they can expect increased profit margins which will come from the increased exploitation of working people by not paying them the full value of their labour. No leave this behind and instead look to matters regarding the national sovereignty of an ’independent’ Scotland, an issue on which surely the SNP can at least be trusted. Since coming to power then, the SNP leadership has (amongst others): · Abandoned SNP commitment to hold referendum on the monarchy, without party consultation; · Decided unilaterally to keep a ‘monetary union’ with England which will allow the Bank of England to control fiscal policy in an ‘independent’ Scotland, a decision which means that key areas of fiscal policy such as setting interest rates will be dictated by conditions of (the housing market in) S-E England, previously one of the SNP’s main reasons FOR independence; · Accepted the right of British Imperialism to retain military bases and troops in an independent Scotland; · Have announced a forthcoming review of the Party’s NATO policy which - without an orchestrated fightback from the grass-roots - will lead to the SNP pledging allegiance to NATO and the military muscle of Anglo-American Imperialism. This move raises the very real possibility of “Britain” retaining its nuclear submarine base at Faslane in a post-independence Scotland. On top of this the SNP leadership has also; · Supported, without dissent, the illegal NATO invasion and overthrow of the Libyan government in order to secure Libya’s oil supplies for Western imperialism. · Acted as main support for the retention of British imperialist regiments and military bases in Scotland, marching side-by-side with Unionist parties to this end. · Been ardent supporters of British monarchy “jubilee celebrations” in Scotland. Indeed Alex Salmond himself proposed the following sycophantic motion to the Scottish Parliament, seconded by the leaders of the Unionist parties. "Motion on the Diamond Jubilee That the Parliament congratulates Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee; expresses its gratitude for Her Majesty's exceptional public service and unwavering dedication to duty over sixty years in a changing world; affirms the respect that is held for Her Majesty in Scotland, and looks forward with anticipation to the continuation of that long and close relationship on the occasion of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee visit to Scotland during this celebratory year." (i) · Furthermore in another policy shift the SNP leadership now stresses that it will welcome the Union Flag post-independence and that we will all continue to be British. The contorted logic behind this says that “independence” means the repeal of the 1707 Union of Parliaments. The 1603 Union of Crowns which created “Britain” and the Union Flag will remain in place - as though the anti working-class, anti- democratic pre-1707 parliament of reactionary landowners and crown placemen has any role to play in shaping the future Scotland. (ii) All of this and the Left in the SNP has hardly raised a voice in protest – still less got themselves organised in any effective manner. The serious position put forward by some is that all the above is merely a pretence from the SNP leadership to sucker the Brits into voting for Independence. Aye right! But even if it were true what does that say about those who would sell their souls for unionist votes and the pursuit of power? However it appears to be an argument with even less conviction than the likes of the SWP who campaigned for Blair’s new Labour in 1997. Less conviction because at least the Left in the Labour party put up some form of fight against the betrayal of everything the party nominally stood for. Other than that there seems little difference between various far left groups saying vote labour, with or without illusions, and those who call for an SNP vote, presumably with, or is it without, illusions. The working-class and Independence Yet while the Left-wing of the nationalist movement abandons a socialist approach for the immediate future the right-wing continues unabated with its own agenda and tries to shape an independent Scotland in its own interest – tied to the global capitalist-imperialist framework, pimping workers in Scotland to global corporations as part of a low-tax -economy, bodies which, almost by definition, are unlikely to be welcome a militant class-conscious working-class movement. Not when labour costs are lower elsewhere. This should be no surprise though. There is a long history of the middle-class leaderships of national movements selling out that struggle once they have carved out their own powerbase in the distribution of power. In 1916, on the eve of the Irish Rebellion, as the great Edinburgh born socialist republican James Connolly prepared for battle he warned his comrades to, “hold onto your rifles, as those with whom we are fighting may stop before our goal is reached." Connolly had made common cause with the most advanced section of Irish republicanism in the struggle against Britain’s bloody imperialism but always recognised the advancement of the workers cause as the guiding principle. Connolly’s prophecy was indeed true and within 5 years a large section of the Irish independence came to an accommodation with British imperialism, accepted the partition of Ireland into separate entities, one under direct rule from Westminster, the other an “independent” Free State under the British Crown, with British military bases and the British pound and then, backed by British arms, turned their guns on their former comrades. After Connolly’s execution the Irish labour movement adopted a ‘Labour must wait’ tactic in order to achieve national independence, a decision from which it has never properly recovered. In Scotland our rifles may exist only on paper but be under no illusion that our “Free Staters” have already started work. For us the question must always be addressed from the standpoint of the working-class for it is to the working-class alone that we pledge allegiance. As such we say that Scottish independence is a means to an end, not a destination in itself. Without a radical re-organisation of society the only thing to change for most workers will be the flags on public buildings. We propose an alternative vision of an independence struggle which recognises our land and resources as the common property of the whole nation. A struggle which uses our wealth and resources to eradicate poverty, homelessness, ill health and all the other accompanying ill-effects of capitalism, imperialism and “austerity”. The case for Unity – An anti-Imperialist Front So how does the progressive independence movement advance? How do we approach the question of independence in a principled working-class republican standpoint that consistently places independence within an internationalist context? We believe that, despite the loss of confidence amongst our class since the implosion of the SSP, it remains a necessity for us to advocate a revolutionary solution to the national question. In the Scotland of 2012 the time is long past for the workers movement to subordinate our interests as a class behind the interests of the minority parasite class who would seek to extend their power and control over us in the sort of post-independence state currently being suggested. The question of class – far from being irrelevant – remains the fundamental ‘contradiction’ in our society. The private ownership of the means of production and land gives rise to the class divisions in society, until this question is addressed independence is meaningless. We live in an age where science is predicting future generations could live to 1000 years or more due to the incredible advancements being made in the fields of stem-cell research and such like, which have the potential to not just repair damaged cells and tissues in the body but possibly to regenerate young cells and preserve youth. Imagine the reality though. The Tories (of blue, pink or tartan) will be telling us that as we’re all living longer we must work longer. 950+ years yoked to the plough for the benefit of the capitalist class. Meanwhile the elixir of eternal life will not be on offer for our brothers and sisters in the so-called ‘Third World’, those who have achieved “independence” and yet still live in poverty, denied the most basic of human necessities such as shelter, food, sanitation, clean water by a system rotten to its core. There can be no peace with imperialism. Two thirds of the world lives like this today when the resources exist for us all to live in comfort. Capitalism has long since played its progressive role in our advancement but must now be confined to history. Not tomorrow but today. By utilising the socialist republican analysis of John MacLean and James Connolly we seek to attack imperialism at its weakest point, through a working-class led fight for INDEPENDENCE & SOCIALISM! We maintain that by working together the various republican and socialist groups active in Scotland are far stronger than the sum of their parts, and maintain that some form of common organisation or ANTI-IMPERIALIST FRONT remains the best way for us to achieve our common goals in the fight against international imperialism and its ally Scottish capitalism UNITY IS STRENGTH! VICTORY TO THE WORKING-CLASS! ****************************** Notes (i)The only two MSPs to vote against this motion were the two Greens, one SNP abstained and three didn’t vote. (ii) As Alex Salmond recently pointed out the wording on the independence ballot paper cannot read “I agree that Scotland should remain in the United Kingdom” because Scotland will still be in the United Kingdom. |