Would Alex Salmond like to vote “NO” today? The Independent gives reasons to show that he might, except for the slight problem he is stuck with leading the “Yes” campaign.
Independence for Scotland cannot be achieved without ensuring you have sustainable and lasting resources. The promise of oil from the North Sea came and went in the twinkling of an eye after politicians promised us all a bright future. That future is now a country dogged by austerity where public institutions are closed down leaving the vulnerable without the safety net achieved to some degree by the welfare state. Capitalism has squandered it all to the benefit of the few, and a wealthy elite is enjoying the spoils while showing utter contempt for the majority. Of course the Scots are sick of this, as are we all. But Salmond’s SNP is not offering anything different. You’re hardly independent if you depend on other Capitalist dominated institutions like the EU run from Brussels or NATO. Will Rupert Murdoch save Scotland?
The British Parliament has really been shown up. When leaders of the three main parties joined together and went mob handed to Scotland who cared. UKIP might possibly appeal to nationalist sentiment but I didn’t notice Farage getting a hero’s welcome! One thing we can thank Scotland for is waking everyone else up.
The SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY in Scotland released the following statement:
Statement by Socialist Labour Party Scotland
Scotland Needs Socialism – Not Sham Independence
A Scotland in the European Union, NATO, under the fiscal and economic jurisdiction of the Bank of England and with an unelected monarch as head of state may have gained some elements of separation after a Yes vote but what it will not be will be independent. And this is the SNP’s Plan A!
This anti-independence would deny the Scottish people through their elected parliament, without outside interference, the right to invest in …industrial regeneration, to retain the NHS as a free at the point of need public health service, to build homes for the 200,000 plus on council waiting lists or freely develop policies to tackle many of the other essential needs of the Scottish people. There would be no independence either when it comes to fishing or farming policy. And with the drive towards “fiscal and monetary union” in the EU, economic policy as well as tax, pensions and welfare benefits would all be further subject to decisions and veto from outwith Scotland.
The Socialist Labour Party in Scotland is opposed to this sham independence and advocates a NO vote. The Scottish people, as do the peoples of Wales and England, need jobs, social and welfare security and a vibrant productive economy. Working people need to know that they can rely on a National Health Service and be able to look to a future dignified life in retirement free from financial worry. Salmond’s so-called independence jeopardises these things because it will undermine the unity that built the welfare state after the second world war and open up our public services to the bureaucrats of the EU commission, the IMF and the sharks of international finance – ask the Irish, the Greeks, the Portugese, the Cypriots, the Spanish or even the Italians.
Our world remains in the grip of the greatest capitalist economic crisis in living memory and the only long term viable solution for working class people everywhere is to move in a socialist direction. To achieve that we need to build the widest possible unity of working class people – separation and division as proposed by the SNP and their confused, red tartanites and MacTrotskyite acolytes undermines this and would be a backward step.
SLP Scotland say No to the EU, No to NATO, No to the monarchy and No to tax cuts for the big corporations.
Vote No on 18th September.
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