Gerry Carroll, People Before Profit MLA from Belfast
Róisín McLaren and Colin Fox, SSP Joint National Spokespeople
George Kerevan, Leading SNP socialist & former MP
Will Britain leave the EU on March 29th or not? Whilst MP’s seem paralysed by indecision working class people suffer poverty pay, further insecurity, falling living standards and declining public services.
The Scottish Socialist Party believes none of these concerns will disappear whether we are in the EU or not. History shows that it is only when working people stand up for themselves and resist employers’ attacks that meaningful change occurs.
Independence offers an escape hatch for working people in Scotland to avoid the failed free market philosophy of the UK and EU.
What does Brexit mean for us?
Should we support independence?
Who’s defending our rights?
Join the Stirling University Scottish Socialist Party to discuss these important issues as we approach the ever-foreboding Brexit day which is casting uncertainty across all areas of UK politics.
Whether you’re an expert at all things political, or really have no clue where to begin, you’re welcome to join us.
I spoke on behalf of the Scottish Socialist Party at a public meeting hosted by the Communication Workers Union in Inverness last week. The St Andrews Day event on ‘Brexit, Independence and Workers Rights’ heard me remind people November 30th is also the anniversary of John Maclean’s birth.
I pointed out that the SSP stood in the same shoes as the famous Red Clydesider as international socialists who campaigned for Independence because it would be both a defeat for British capitalism and an advance for democracy.
‘British democracy’ faces its most important vote in 50 years next week when Theresa May’s ‘Brexit’ deal comes in front of the Westminster Parliament.
Public meeting by the Communication Workers Union Highland AMAL.
Speakers confirmed are Drew Hendry of the Scottish National Party, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Colin Fox – national co-spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party and Carl Maden of the CWU National Executive.
Commenting on Philip Hammond’s budget SSP spokesman Colin Fox said;
“This is a pre-Brexit giveaway budget designed to put pressure on dissident MP’s Remainers and Brexiteers alike on the spot ahead of a likely Westminster vote in December.”
“Chancellor Philip Hammond promises to find £20bn more for the NHS over the next 5 years, £2bn more for mental health services, £420m for potholes and tax cuts for millions but only if Parliament votes for Theresa May’s Brexit deal negotiated with the EU next month. Otherwise all bets are off.
His increase in the minimum wage from £7.83 to £8.21/hour still leaves 8.5 million people on poverty pay. The Government has already conceded that workers need to earn £10 an hour to pay their own rent,
Amid claims of a ‘Remain coup’ in diluting Brexit plans, SSP national spokesman Colin Fox said:
“Prime Minister Theresa May has survived another debilitating day ‘in the Brexit trenches’ after ‘Leave’ Ministers David Davis and Boris Johnston dramatically resigned from her cabinet over what they saw as further dilution of Britain’s negotiating position with the EU.
As the Brexit conflict continues to ravage her Cabinet, her Party and her political Union it looks increasingly likely, as the Scottish Socialist Party has forecast from the outset, that Britain’s formal departure from the EU next March will result in little difference from present arrangements with the EU.
Britain’s decision to leave the EU is being scrutinised today by the highest constitutional court in the land. And in doing so the case has exposed the sham that is UK democracy, writes Colin Fox.
Eleven unelected Supreme Court ‘Justices’ will rule on whether the UK Government has the legal right to use autocratic, monarchical ‘Crown Powers’ to override an elected Parliament’s right to impede the wishes of the British people expressed in a democratic referendum.
It sounds like a script from an episode of ‘Yes Minister’ or ‘The Thick Of It’.
Judgment
To add insult to democratic injury the Judges insist they are above politics and always make their rulings impartially based only on matters of law – matters only passed into law by Parliament and therefore political by their very nature.
It is difficult to discuss arguments about the Remain or Leave perspectives following a step-by-step logical progression. This is because each position is approached in a completely different way.
The Left Leave position is effectively a critique of the European Union’s neoliberal character, but has very little concrete proposals about what the future of the UK working class might be after Brexit. Some have suggested that, following a Brexit, the current UK government might collapse and Jeremy Corbyn might win and save the country. Others seem to hope that a Brexit could somehow give strength to the working class to resist more effectively against the Tory-led British neoliberalism.
by Colin Fox
I pointed out that the SSP stood in the same shoes as the famous Red Clydesider as international socialists who campaigned for Independence because it would be both a defeat for British capitalism and an advance for democracy.
