This piece by SSP Co-Spokesperson Colin Fox first appeared in The National Newspaper 27/10/2026.
When asked to explain why so many were voting for Reform this time last year one polling expert after another highlighted the widely held view that ‘nothing works anymore’ as the core reason why people were abandoning their previous political loyalties. The Tories were held in contempt after fourteen long years in office, as was Keir Starmer’s 2024 Labour government, and the SNP’s lacklustre record at Holyrood had left large sections of the electorate disillusioned by the failure of what Tariq Ali famously called the parties of the ‘extreme centre’.
The UK economy didn’t work for ordinary people who watched their household bills soar whilst their incomes had not kept pace. Patients were angry and disappointed by the poor state of the post-Covid NHS as it endured the worst crisis in its history. Others pointed to the repeated cuts imposed by local councils and the callous treatment received by those in care homes the length and breadth of Britain. This generalised unhappiness extended to the poor quality of public transport, potholed roads, the lack of reliable police services and the state of our schools and colleges. All this and the feeling that illegal immigration was out of control spilled out into support for Farage’s party on the basis that though they were untested and suspiciously inept ‘we might as well give them a chance as all the other parties have failed us.’
Notwithstanding the decline in support for Reform in recent months – following the exposure of Farage’s £5m ‘gift’ from an overseas crypto billionaire which rather undermined his manufactured ‘man of the people’ image – it would be a mistake to equate this with the conclusion voters somehow felt everything that didn’t work then, does now!
The fact is today’s Britain is still controlled by multinational corporations not serving the interests of working people. Food bills, energy costs and petrol prices have continued to soar. The NHS crisis has worsened with A&E ‘corridor care’ now widespread during the summer months too. Goodness knows what will happen this winter!
The situation in our care homes, schools, colleges, police service and social housing sectors has not improved either. And with the ‘AI revolution’ millions now face employment uncertainty too!
Andy Burnham may have slayed the Starmer ‘dragon’, but he has resolved none of these underlying problems. His message remains the same as his predecessor; the UK is deeply indebted, our public services remain inadequate and wealth inequalities are widening but there is little he can do about it.
As sure as night follows day, Burnham will face the same ignominious end as Starmer if he doesn’t alleviate the cost-of-living crisis forcing millions into poverty. Donald Trump is set to suffer a similar humiliation in America next week if the polls ahead of November’s midterm elections are any guide.
Burnham’s current course of action is not only unsustainable he is likely to face for the same social convulsions witnessed in France, Spain, Italy, Albania, Belgium and Germany.
And Scotland will not be immune as John Swinney meekly accepts the logic of Burnham’s political path.
I watched his speech at the SNP Conference in Aberdeen last week and was struck by how flat it all was. Yes his hands are tied to some extent by devolution, but in those circumstances ‘the vision thing’ is even more important. And yet there was none. Here was a First Minister going through the motions, ill-prepared for what is to come. His government intends to cut £5bn from already inadequate public services. How is that going to help the cost-of-living crisis?
To me the political prospects for Andy Burnham’s Labour government are exceedingly poor. His ‘honeymoon’ will not last. I can see him being as unpopular as Keir Starmer was when the cost-of-living crisis worsens and he is seen to be doing too little to counter it. This is not a path John Swinney should follow. As the Scottish Socialist Party has pointed out there is an alternative, an escape hatch if you like, from the sinking UK ship.
As ‘UK PLC’ continues to decline an independence movement committed to countering the stranglehold multinational corporations have on our economy and key industries like energy and banking, can advance significantly.
Outside the union we can reject the neo-liberal politics of financialization, privatisation, fiscal indebtedness, public service cuts, warmongering and ever widening inequality. This alternative vision for Scotland offers a fresh path, one which is economically ambitious and bold enough to include public ownership of our rich renewable energy sector for example and allows us to eradicate Scotland’s grotesque inequalities and achieve the progressive social conditions, international solidarity, peace and improved public services – housing, health, social care, justice, and transport – the majority of Scots wish to enjoy. That is the kind of political vision that can mobilise public opinion across Scotland.
The political choice facing working people in Scotland increasingly is either we abandon this monarchist ‘Kingdom’ or we go down with it. Mobilising the people of Scotland behind such a vision of independence provides the grounds for optimism so lacking elsewhere in our movement.
Read more from Colin in the National: