Scotland
in the
heat
The Cafe
Andrew Sanders
The Scottish opposition
parties should begin
talks with Alex Salmond
Robin Downie
It was depressing to read the end of the year messages of the new leaders of the Scottish Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties – they had nothing to say other than attacking the SNP. If we judge by recent polls this policy does not seem to be very effective.
Indeed, with the likelihood of saturation coverage of the London Olympics coupled with a worsening employment situation there is every reason to expect that support for independence will rise in Scotland. If this is at least a probable background to 2012 and beyond, what position should be adopted by the political opposition in Scotland?
My radical suggestion is that the Scottish opposition parties should begin talks with Alex Salmond about the questions on the referendum. Obviously, this must now contain an option for independence but it should also contain at least one other option. Opposition parties have derided this, but as support for independence seems to be growing it might well be in their interests to agree to talks on the matter. There is a different justification for this in the case of each party. Take first the Labour Party.
The original source of inspiration for the Labour Party did not spring from unionism or indeed from Scottish nationalism: it sprang from a belief in social equality. This is a concept which is international in its scope, but it has been largely obscured in recent times. It can be seen as an inspiration in the 1945 general election. The nation’s gratitude to Churchhill as a war leader was not so strong as the belief that the old privileges of wealth and birth should at the very least be modified and that health and welfare services should be established as matters of right.
The inefficient and bureaucratic implementation of this inspiration by the Labour Party coupled with the vested interests of the trade unions led to widespread disillusion which culminated in the Thatcher years. In order to regain political credibility – in the UK context this means appealing to Middle England – we had New Labour. This movement totally forgot social equality and pandered to ‘the City’ and to the US. The result has been a huge increase in social inequality. Note especially that this came about under a Labour Party which cut itself off from its roots, roots which were not in the trade unions but in the concept of social equality.
In contrast Scotland has always retained a belief in social equality; and in an internationalism which contrasts with the ‘little England’ of the south of England Conservatives. Why then should the Scottish Labour Party wish to fight for the union? They are encouraged to do so because Labour will have huge difficulty in gaining an overall majority in Westminster without winning Scottish constituencies. But why should Scottish Labour have an interest in helping Miliband and co to power? The Westminster Labour leadership has no interest in Scotland other than in gaining voting fodder. If Scotland were to become independent the Labour Party would have an opportunity to regain its soul in the land of its birth.
What conceivable interest can the parties of social equality or enterprising businesses or free education have in supporting ‘the City’ or ‘the markets’? What interest do they have in supporting totally useless nuclear weapons?
Turn now to the Lib Dems. It is not at all clear why the Lib Dems should be opposed to independence, and certainly not to devolution max. They seem to have forgotten that they are a federalist party. An independent Scotland under the Crown differs only by a whisker or two from federalism. Why not join with the SNP in discussing the details of this? They agree with many current SNP policies, such as free education.
The Greens too have everything to gain from an independent Scotland which is aiming at obtaining its energy from renewables. They have the expertise in explaining and developing renewable energy policies and the enthusiasm which goes with it – much needed if SNP energy ideals are to be realised.
The hardest to persuade to support the move to independence or something very like it is of course the Conservative and Unionist Party. This is partly because most of the small number of Scottish Conservatives left alive are of the Thatcher persuasion, and it is unfortunate that the present Conservative leader holds her position as a result of support from that species of political dinosaur.
I suspect that Murdo Fraser would understand and even agree with some of the points I have made. He was certainly correct in saying that if the political right in Scotland are ever again to get anywhere they must distance themselves from the London millionaires who currently dominate the Conservatives. It is worth remembering that the Conservatives were once a dominant party in Scotland. They could be again, but only if they distanced themselves from the Westminster party in a nation wholly or largely independent.
It is worth repeating the paradox that if it is successful in its aims the SNP has no future. It is a party of independence, and if that comes about more familiar right and left groupings will break out again in Scottish politics. That could only be for the benefit of the nation. What conceivable interest can the parties of social equality or enterprising businesses or free education have in supporting ‘the City’ or ‘the markets’? What interest do they have in supporting totally useless nuclear weapons? To have a future they should join with the SNP in getting a good deal for Scotland and then emerge with their own identities, but Scottish identities.
Anyone but a political numpty can see that the constant drip of negativity – you’ll never be allowed to see your granny again, or you won’t be able to afford aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines – is not very inspiring. And no, the weather is not the fault of the SNP. Scotland must be able to stand as a respectful but independent partner rather than as a cringing dependent with a begging bowl called the Barnett formula.
Robin Downie is emeritus professor of moral philosophy at
Glasgow University
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