Colin Fox with Campbell Martin
Why I've joined the SSP
by Campbell Martin, 23-08-2011
I passionately believe in an independent Scotland. If we are to tackle the social problems that continue to blight our country, we need all the powers that only come with independence.
Having said that, I see no point in securing independence for Scotland only to remake our new country along the lines of the failed British model. Sadly, under the millionaire-funded SNP, that is exactly what we would get.
Even before it was elected to government, the SNP had begun to move its political positioning – some in the party argue they simply moved to the centre-ground, as did the Labour Party under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. However, by abandoning its left-of-centre position, the SNP followed Labour in moving away from the people of Scotland. The Nationalist victories in 2007 and 2011 were not endorsements of the SNP in its new centrist position, but rather were rejections of New Labour and the war-mongering, free-market, pro-big business, capitalist organisation it had become. The ‘slightly-less-to-the-right’ SNP simply benefitted from being seen as the party best-placed to beat New Labour at those elections.
The reality is, though, if the SNP delivers its Independence Referendum – and with a majority in parliament, surely it must – and if a ‘yes’ vote is secured in that referendum, the independent Scotland we would have under an SNP Government would be one remarkably similar to the Tory and Labour British Governments we have had over the past fifteen years. The SNP is now a ‘moderate centre-right’ political party, which would continue to endorse the capitalist economic system that has brought the western world to its knees. The ‘moderate centre-right’ SNP’s big idea for jobs in an independent Scotland is to reduce the taxation paid by multi-national corporations, so they could come here for a few years, take all the hand-outs going, exploit ordinary Scots men and women by paying wages so low they would still qualify for social benefits – as is the case now – and then those companies would disappear, ‘like snaw aff a dyke’, as Alex Salmond might say.
With independence, Scotland would once again become a sovereign nation, but under a government of any so-called ‘mainstream’ party – SNP, Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat – an independent Scotland would remain answerable to the capitalist overlords of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the spivs and speculators of global financial markets.
Instead, independence should be the catalyst that allows us to tackle the bread-and-butter issues that affect every one of us, every day of our lives. With the full powers that only come with independence, we can radically transform Scottish society - putting people before profit; taking power companies into public ownership, so elderly Scots don’t needlessly die in winter because they can’t afford to heat their homes; building affordable homes for rent, creating construction jobs and addressing the massive housing waiting lists across Scotland; providing hope and opportunity to our young people through the creation of real apprenticeships; maximising the educational attainment of every child; organising national production and international trading agreements to meet the needs of Scottish society; allowing ordinary Scots to once again know the dignity of work, the pride that comes from being able to support themselves and their families; building communities where everyone is valued and where each individual, irrespective of age, has a role to play.
This is the Scotland we need if we are to meet the aspirations of ordinary Scots. Thankfully, the political party offering the policies to create that Scotland is still with us, having survived an experience that would have killed-off lesser bodies. Everyone knows how traumatic the last few years have been for the Scottish Socialist Party. Issues far removed from politics dealt a body blow to the socialist movement in Scotland, but the SSP held to its principles and has emerged stronger in its commitment to deliver a better country for all the people of Scotland.
The corner has been turned and a radical, socialist alternative for Scotland is back on the table.
All the so-called mainstream parties in Scotland are now on the right of the political spectrum, to varying degrees, and all are totally committed to the failed capitalist system. It is only the SSP that’s over there, on the left, with the people of Scotland. That’s why I’ve joined the Scottish Socialist Party, to help in the fight for a better, fairer Scotland.