{"id":3572,"date":"2012-06-20T14:20:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-20T14:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=3572"},"modified":"2021-03-11T10:44:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T10:44:01","slug":"the-independence-lite-referendum-and-a-tale-of-two-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/06\/20\/the-independence-lite-referendum-and-a-tale-of-two-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"The &#8216;Independence-Lite&#8217; Referendum And A Tale Of Two Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>&#8216;s &#8216;Yes, Please&#8217; And The Left Nationalists&#8217; &#8216;Yes, But&#8230;&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3873\" src=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/yes-declaration-300x19511.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Tale No. 1 \u2013 the launch of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s Yes campaign<\/h3>\n<p>Alex Salmond launched the \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum at Cineworld in Edinburgh\u2019s Fountainbridge on the morning of Friday, May 25<sup>th<\/sup>. Apart from the delayed start, this media orientated event, attended by over 500 people, was pretty much a fairy tale launch for the organisers<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Of course, it was dismissed by much of the \u2018No\u2019 supporting unionist press in Scotland. However, it is revealing that the official \u2018No\u2019 campaign is only going to be launched from a closed news conference with Alistair Darling (Labour), Charles Kennedy (Lib-Dem) and Annabel Goldie (Conservative). After Glasgow City Labour administration handed out grants to the Orange Order for Jubilee street parties, they are perhaps a bit wary about who might be attracted to a Union Jack festooned public launch.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Had any members of the Socialist Workers Party (<acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>) or the <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\u2019s Socialist Party Scotland (<acronym title=\"Socialist Party of Scotland\">SPS<\/acronym>) been present, they would have recognised (and been pretty envious of) the slick setting up of a stage-managed front \u2013 only the \u2018Yes\u2019 launch obviously captured far more publicity than either \u2018The Right to Work Campaign\u2019 or the \u2018National Shop Stewards Network\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership had, without consulting others, decided beforehand on the timing, the venue, the staff appointed to run the campaign, and those to be invited on the day. Angus Robertson, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s right-wing Westminster <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym> for Moray, had been to the forefront of the prior organisation, helped by two <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> paid organisers. The Friday morning launch allowed for the maximum attendance of <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> Holyrood <acronym title=\"Members of the Scottish Parliament\">MSPs<\/acronym> and their staff. Tickets for non-<acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> members and supporters were strictly limited. Nobody else was allowed to distribute any material at the venue before the launch.<\/p>\n<p>Martin Compston, an actor from Ken Loach\u2019s <cite>Sweet Sixteen<\/cite>, and self-declared Scottish nationalist, compered the event. A good-feelings atmosphere was created by performances from artists Liz Lochhead, Alan Cummings, Dougie Maclean<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Dougie Maclean wrote and sang the anthem <cite>Caledonia<\/cite>, although the best-known version is still Frankie Miller\u2019s, originally from the 1991 Tennents advert (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TX9h558Tz1E\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TX9h558Tz1E<\/span><\/a>), where the anonymous hero turns his back on Thatcher\u2019s London and returns to Edinburgh.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> and Lou Hickey. Sir Sean Connery sent a statement of support and Elaine C. Smith had prepared a pre-recorded video. The campaign launch theme tune was the Big Country 1986 number, <cite>One Great Thing<\/cite>.<\/p>\n<p>To give the impression of wider support at all levels of Scottish society, a well-produced video was first shown. This included brief statements from people ranging from former Chair of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir George Mathewson (!)\u00a0\u2013 \u201cI will be voting Yes\u201d\u00a0\u2013 to the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s co-spokesperson, Colin Fox \u2013 \u201cWe firmly believe the people of Scotland will be economically, socially, culturally and politically better off under independence\u201d. This video had been edited to ensure that nobody said anything which would challenge the Yes campaign\u2019s very anodyne Declaration:-<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI believe that it is fundamentally better for us all, if decisions about Scotland\u2019s future are taken by the people who care most about Scotland, that is, by the people of Scotland.<br \/>\nBeing independent means Scotland\u2019s future will be in Scotland\u2019s hands.<br \/>\nThere is no doubt that Scotland has great potential. We are blessed with talent, resources and creativity. We have the opportunity to make our nation a better place to live, for this and future generations. We can build a greener, fairer and more prosperous society that is stronger and more successful than it is today.<br \/>\nI want a Scotland that speaks with her own voice and makes her own unique contribution to the world: a Scotland that stands alongside the other nations on these isles, as an independent nation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, even this very \u2018mother\u2019s milk and apple pie\u2019 statement of intent was somewhat lacking in honesty. The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government\u2019s own \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019 proposals certainly would <strong>not<\/strong> ensure that \u2013 \u201cBeing independent means Scotland\u2019s future will be in Scotland\u2019s hands\u201d \u2013 not with the continuation of the monarchy and Crown Powers over Scotland; not with the City in control of the Scottish economy; and not with Scottish military forces under the British High Command.<\/p>\n<p>Although a select group of politically motivated, but non-<acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, individuals had been hand picked to speak at the launch, none of them seemed to notice this glaring contradiction.\u00a0These speakers had mostly been chosen because the main battleground for the \u2018Yes\u2019 vote is seen to be amongst Labour supporters \u2013 an increasing number of whom have become disillusioned with New Labour. Thus, Dennis Canavan, the ex-Labour <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym> and Independent <acronym title=\"Member of the Scottish Parliament\">MSP<\/acronym>, Tommy Brennan, a former shop steward\u2019s convenor at Ravenscraig steelworks<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Tommy Brennan controversially encouraged the import of Polish coal to Ravenscraig steelworks during the 1984-5 Miners\u2019 Strike.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, and Brian Cox, a former New Labour supporting actor, were keynote speakers. A nod was also given to the pro-Scottish independence Greens (represented in Holyrood by 2 <acronym title=\"Members of the Scottish Parliament\">MSPs<\/acronym>) by having Patrick Harvie speak. Brain Cox was able to declare himself a \u201cdemocratic socialist\u201d, whilst Patrick Harvie was able to say he was \u201cnot a nationalist\u201d. They all then went on to publicly sign the Declaration, drawn up by the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> organisers.<\/p>\n<p>But, of course, the key speech came from Salmond himself. It was carefully crafted, although few commentators have examined the political content very closely. Despite the apparent \u2018promises\u2019 Salmond avoided any specific commitments. He also chose his historical precedent carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Declaration echoes the Scottish Covenant movement of more than 60 years ago, which saw more than two million signatures collected demanding home rule and the restoration of our national Parliament.\u201d It was John MacCormick, who initiated the Scottish Covenant in 1947, quite independently of, and in opposition to, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> of the day, in order to appeal to pro-Home Rulers in other parties. In other words it was a campaign for \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019. During its existence, the Scottish Covenant Association marginalised the rump <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>. The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> only managed to recover after the Covenant\u2019s failure to persuade then Labour-controlled Westminster to enact Home Rule in 1950, despite the petition collecting almost 2 million signatures in support.<\/p>\n<p>Moving on to today, though, Salmond has set the \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign the more modest task of collecting 1 million signatures for \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019 (a little more ambitious than the Scottish Covenant&#8217;s Home Rule proposals, but still firmly under the Union of the Crowns), in the period up to the 2014 referendum. However, these signatures are to be targeted not at Westminster, which would ignore them as readily as it did in 1950, but at Holyrood. In typically cheeky fashion, though, Salmond has anticipated success in this endeavour by already getting <acronym title=\"Members of the Scottish Parliament\">MSPs<\/acronym> at Holyrood to vote \u2018Yes\u2019, by 69 votes to 52, on May 29<sup>th<\/sup>, in support of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government\u2019s version of Scottish independence.<\/p>\n<p>The real reason for this, apart from the obvious symbolism and publicity value, is that Salmond and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership are determined that they will set down the parameters for any future \u2018independent\u2019 Scotland well in advance. It is their proposals for \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019, not any wider ones raised in the context of an independence campaign, which will be negotiated with the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> government, in the event of the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign being able to win a majority vote in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>The idea that the people of Scotland might desire a constituent assembly, which could draw its mandate directly from them, and achieve more meaningful self-determination than\u00a0\u2018Independence-Lite\u2019, is anathema to Salmond and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership. Any negotiations with the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state must be firmly in the hands of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government, and remain on its restricted terms. For Salmond, both Holyrood and its incumbent <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government draw their legitimacy from the powers already handed down by the existing <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state. \u201cThat national Parliament {Holyrood} has now been restored {by Westminster}. But it is not yet able to make many of the key decisions affecting the lives of every man, woman and child in Scotland. Since devolution we have shown we can make a success of running our own health service, schools, local government, police and courts and much else besides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So Salmond believes that it is now time for Holyrood to be given more power. \u201cIf we are capable of doing all these things successfully for ourselves, why shouldn\u2019t we have responsibility for running our economy, our pensions and representing ourselves on the world stage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But of course, the Bank of England and The City will be \u2018helping us\u2019 in the \u201crunning of our economy\u201d; those corporate controlled pension fund holders will continue to dictate the level of most of \u201cour pensions\u201d; and Scotland\u2019s impact \u201con the world stage\u201d will be reflected through the prism of continued participation in the British military machine, a key component of <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym> and participant in continuous imperial wars. Any Scottish seat in the <acronym title=\"United Nations\">UN<\/acronym> General Assembly will have about as much political leverage upon its Security Council, as the holding of a seat on Auchenshuggle Community Council does upon Westminster.<\/p>\n<p>However, Salmond did make one \u2018commitment\u2019, and that was Scotland could protect itself \u201cwithout the obscenity of Trident nuclear weapons on the Clyde\u201d. In the period before the official \u2018Yes\u2019 launch, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership had continued its recent drift to the Right. They even surpassed their earlier retreats. Salmond refused to disown his courting of the obnoxious Rupert Murdoch and News International. The Holyrood government \u2018bribed\u2019 the viciously anti-trade union Amazon to set-up a distribution depot in Fife in a \u2018pay no taxes\u2019 deal. Another <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> campaign was launched to defend the Black Watch from <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> government cuts. Salmond had once opposed imperial wars in Kosovo and Iraq. Now, however, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> warmly supports Scottish regiments\u2019 participation in <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>\u2019s wars in Afghanistan and Libya.<\/p>\n<p>So, perhaps it was not surprising that Angus Robertson, the \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign organiser, <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> Defence Spokesperson and warm supporter of <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>, felt confident that he could strong arm June\u2019s <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> Council meeting into ditching the party\u2019s formal policy of opposition to <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>. It had long been abandoned in practice. Indeed, Robertson had already gone further, and hinted that the scrapping of the Trident nuclear submarine base might not be on the cards after Scotland\u2019s \u2018independence\u2019 either.<\/p>\n<p>However, this proved a \u2018bridge-too-far\u2019 for Salmond. He still wants to keep another bridge open to that liberal section of the Scottish establishment, including the main churches and the <acronym title=\"Scottish Trades Union Congress\">STUC<\/acronym> leadership. He also knows that opposition to Trident continues to enjoy clear majority support in Scotland, and even amongst some of the British Military High Command. Even the <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> government is not that bothered about retaining nuclear bases in the North East Atlantic, as their closure of the Holy Loch and Keflavik facilities has shown. What they want is access to airbases for overseas missions and \u2018rendition flights\u2019 in times of war \u2013 something Robertson, a strong defender of RAF Lossiemouth and Kinloss, would be only too happy to support. Therefore, rather than open up any can of worms in public at the June <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> Council, the proposed motion to end party opposition to <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym> was dropped\u00a0\u2013 for now!<\/p>\n<p>So Salmond was able to remind the \u2018Yes\u2019 launch of \u201cthe obscenity of Trident\u201d \u2013 but without any specific promise to scrap it. Indeed we can get some idea of the extent of any practical commitment to such a course of action, by looking at another of Salmond\u2019s \u2018commitments\u2019 at the launch. \u201cAt a time when people \u2013 not just in this country, but across the whole of Europe and around the globe \u2013 are crying out for alternatives to austerity, what better, more positive example could there be than a country like Scotland taking its destiny in its own hands and charting a new, better course with independence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, we have already seen how the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> \u201ccharts a new better course\u201d through the troubled waters of austerity. HMS Westminster\u2019s cuts are carried on the austerity tide to HMS Holyrood. From here they shipped out by the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government to local council shores, where they are passed on by <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> and Labour carriers alike.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Westminster\u2019s control of public expenditure was to be removed, under \u2018Independence-Lite,\u2019 the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government\u2019s fawning before The City and the major corporations, shows that they would still jump to their every command. So Salmond\u2019s \u201calternatives to austerity\u201d would not amount to that much. And neither would Salmond\u2019s acknowledgement of Trident\u2019s \u201cobscenity\u201d necessarily guarantee a future <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government\u2019s willingness to defy the British government over this issue.<\/p>\n<p>However, before anyone present at the launch could take this all in, Salmond wowed them with his one last \u2018all-things-to-all-people\u2019 appeal. \u201cYes to a greener Scotland, yes to a fairer Scotland, yes to a more prosperous Scotland and yes to a brighter, better future for all the future generations of this historic land.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Salmond clearly thought he had, by now, done quite enough to persuade those Labour and Socialist players present at the launch to take on their allotted bit parts in the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s \u2018Yes, Yes, and Yes Again\u2019 \u2018movie\u2019. For, following the launch, Salmond\u2019s attentions were entirely focused upon wooing his favoured A-list cast of \u2018independence\u2019 supporters from amongst the directors of the global corporations, Scottish business owners and those members of the Scottish establishment, who feel excluded from the other big show in town \u2013 \u2018No, Nae, Never \u2013 The <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> For Ever\u2019 (soon to be relaunched under the name \u2013 \u2018Better Together\u2019<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">This slogan is uncannily reminiscent of New Labour\u2019s 1997 \u201cThings can only\u00a0get better\u201d!<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>).<\/p>\n<p>It remains a decidedly moot point, though, whether Salmond\u2019s truly grovelling appeal to \u2018Elizabrit\u2019 in Jubilee Week persuaded many in his preferred circle of would be supporters. It certainly made those outside this select group dash for the sickbag. \u201cI am looking forward to a fantastic weekend of celebrations right across Scotland to mark The Queen\u2019s 60 years of loyal service on the occasion of Her Diamond Jubilee. Her Majesty has been, and contributes to be, a great friend of Scotland, offering her subjects\u2019 unparalleled dedication and integrity as she has carried out her duties throughout her reign. This week, the Scottish Parliament put on record its admiration, respect and gratitude for all that the Queen has done for Scotland, and this holiday will enable the people of Scotland to do the same.\u201d Such sycophancy even made Scottish Labour leader, Johann Lamont, look like some kind of closet republican!<\/p>\n<p>Following from Salmond\u2019s lead, his lieutenants in the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership went on to help him out in the quest to win over his desired supporting cast from amongst &#8216;the great and good&#8217;. On radio and TV shows, and in the pages of the press, key <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leaders claimed that \u2018we\u2019 can proudly keep the queen under Scottish \u2018independence\u2019; \u2018we\u2019 can remain thoroughly British; \u2018we\u2019 will get \u2018our\u2019 full share of all those Royal Navy construction contracts; and \u2018we\u2019 will have \u2018our\u2019 place on the board of the Bank of England too. This is the exciting vision of Scotland\u2019s future now being pedalled by the leading proponents of the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign \u2013 just haud us a\u2019 back!<\/p>\n<p>By June 9<sup>th<\/sup>, this had become too much for Patrick Harvie of the Greens. He publicly protested, stating that, \u201cWe need a management group that includes those who are not just the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, who are making every key decision. {He} went on to claim the campaign discouraged supporters from debating issues such as the retention of the monarchy in an independent Scotland, as he said these \u201cdifferences are never talked about\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[5]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite>Sunday Herald<\/cite>, 10.6.12<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>However, the other non-<acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> participants have remained remarkably silent about the post-launch gallop to the Right undertaken by the official <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> \u2018Yes\u2019 organisers. So, how does the Scottish Left relate to the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s official \u2018Yes\u2019 launch? Where do they see it going? Thereby hangs a second tale!<\/p>\n<h3>Tale no. 2 \u2013 The <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> and the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign<\/h3>\n<p>Colin Fox has pushed hardest for the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> to become the publicly recognised Socialist wing of the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign. One reason for Colin\u2019s initiative was to provide the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> with media publicity, something of which it has been starved since the party split in 2006. The official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign was always going to attract media attention, so Colin wanted to edge the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> into the spotlight. It also looks, for now, as if Tommy Sheridan\u2019s attempt to push himself forward, with the behind-the-scenes help of Hugh Kerr, ex-Labour Party, ex-<acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, ex-Solidarity, ex-Green Party, but for now an <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> member, has been thwarted.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> was given the exclusive Socialist \u2018franchise\u2019 within the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign. In effect, Colin is pursuing a political strategy in which he sees the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> re-emerging as the last man standing from the Scottish Left\u2019s \u2018Tommygate\u2019 train-wreck. Maybe now Colin thinks that the promise he made at the first post-split conference in 2006 \u2013 \u201cThings can only get better\u201d (!) \u2013 will finally be realized for the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>. That once glorious <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> express train could move quickly forward again, having fully recovered from its spectacular derailment in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Colin works very hard for the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> and has never let bad news or \u2018events\u2019 get him down. He has also retained more of that old <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> training than others in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> leadership. This is probably why Colin thinks that the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> should both be fully committed to the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign (think \u2013 Labour Party in the past), whilst the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> itself should constitute its own independent socialist \u2018Yes\u2019 wing (think \u2013 Militant in the past), and largely ignore other organisations, which he sees as unimportant (think how the old Militant behaved towards the rest of the Left before their \u2018Scottish Turn\u2019). Those to be ignored include Solidarity, <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>, International Socialist Group (Scottish breakaway from the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>) and <acronym title=\"Socialist Party of Scotland\">SPS<\/acronym> (the <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\u2019s Scottish section).<\/p>\n<p>When Colin first announced to the Scottish press that the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> was signing up to the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign, he made a considerable impact by raising the issue of a republic. He was even able to force one of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s <acronym title=\"Members of the Scottish Parliament\">MSPs<\/acronym> out of her republican closet. Christine Graham was quoted as saying, \u201cAfter the Diana nonsense when complete strangers lemming-like threw themselves into publicity-driven grief, through Charles and Camilla\u2019s redemption, we are now spoon-fed the William &amp; Kate Show, the latter ironically committed like her deceased predecessor to remaining stick thin for photogenic reasons\u201d<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_6');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_6');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[6]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite>Sunday Herald<\/cite>, 13.5.12.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Not the most astute assessment of the political role of the monarchy, but well observed nevertheless. More to the point, it probably got Ms. Graham a \u2018dressing down\u2019 from the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s party managers the next day!<\/p>\n<p>Colin was then \u2018gagged\u2019 by the organisers when the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign was launched. He has probably been subjected to much spit and venom behind closed doors, not just for publicly raising the issue of republicanism, but for exposing divisions over the issue within the ranks of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Colin remains convinced that it is still possible to pursue his two-track campaign for a \u2018Yes\u2019 vote. This means leaving the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign to say what it will say (and that, of course, will be decided entirely by the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> organisers); whilst the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> puts its own case independently, without any reference to, or criticism of, the national official campaign (which Colin sees as playing into the hands of the hostile unionist-dominated press) or acknowledgement of other Socialist organisations in Scotland. Instead he hopes to work with local \u2018Yes\u2019 groups, which will not necessarily be under the direct control of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> central office, although you can be sure they will be monitoring the situation carefully<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_7');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_7');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_7\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[7]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_7\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">It is not only the Socialists, to their Left, that the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign will need to watch. There will also be those notorious, thinly disguised racist, populist cyber-Nats, who will respond to British unionist provocations (including from neo-fascist Loyalists) with anti-English bile. The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign, though, is not designed to alienate the British ruling class, either with the prospect of Socialism on one hand, or anti-English sentiment on the other. It is about striking up a new deal \u2013 \u2018Independence within the Union\u2019.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. However, this could only work, as long as there are no \u2018events\u2019 to bring the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> into direct conflict with the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> either at Holyrood or in the local councils.<\/p>\n<p>On several occasions, Colin has used the term \u2018popular front\u2019 to describe the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign. Although Colin has retained some old <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> thinking over ways of organising, he has moved much closer to old <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym> thinking in his formal politics. For, if \u2018popular front\u2019 is a term of abuse for an old Trotskyist<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_8');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_8');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_8\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[8]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_8\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Support for <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym>-type \u2018united fronts\u2019, as opposed to Trotskyist inspired \u2018united fronts\u2019, has brought Colin into disagreement with Richie Venton, the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s Industrial Organiser. Richie (also ex-<acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>) otherwise shares much of Colin\u2019s belief that the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> is the only significant Socialist organisation in Scotland. They retain their understanding of the best way to organise politically from their old <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\/Militant training. However, this view no longer enjoys majority support amongst their former <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> members in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, especially in the Glasgow area.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, it is a term of endearment for an old <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym>\u2019er. Yet, without getting too involved in the arcane language of the old Left, Trotskyists do have a point about \u2018popular fronts\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Popular fronts\u2019 are organisations in which the working class is asked to set aside its own immediate class interests in favour of unity with other class forces. Trotskyists can point to the consequences of this in the massacres in Shanghai in 1927, in Indonesia in 1965 and Chile in 1972. Less dramatically, but within our own recent experience, the consequences of electoral \u2018popular fronts\u2019 were shown, when Comunista Rifondazione (CR) signed up to a non-Socialist coalition government in Italy. The coalition supported the war in Afghanistan and implemented cuts. CR then lost all their seats in parliament in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Up to now, the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s attempt to form a \u2018popular front\u2019 with the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has proved less bloody or politically costly. But this is only because such attempts have turned out to have no real political impact. The Scottish Independence Convention (<acronym title=\"Scottish Independence Convention\">SIC<\/acronym>) was initiated by the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> leadership and received official <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> (and Green Party) backing at its launch on St. Andrew\u2019s Day in 1995. However, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership only joined up so that they could sit on the <acronym title=\"Scottish Independence Convention\">SIC<\/acronym> and squash it. In this they were completely successful. Now, that the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership need their own new front organisation, they have launched the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign, without any prior consultation with the <acronym title=\"Scottish Independence Convention\">SIC<\/acronym>, or anybody else for that matter.<\/p>\n<p>One hallmark of all orthodox <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym> inspired \u2018popular front\u2019 thinking is the constant call to maintain \u201cunity\u201d in the face of \u201chostile forces\u201d. The historic consequences of such unity appeals have already been highlighted. These tragedies, set backs and stillborn campaigns have all resulted from the failure of such calls for \u201cunity\u201d to recognise the hostile class forces <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">within<\/span> the \u2018popular front\u2019 itself. And, when those political parties representing these hostile class forces in the \u2018popular front\u2019 are substantially larger than the Socialists, they can make whatever moves they think are necessary against those Socialists, at whatever time they choose.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, political unity is only meaningful for Socialists, when it is aimed at uniting workers and other oppressed groups, around clear principles that advance our own immediate class interests. Maintaining political unity with hostile class forces, who always prioritise their own class interests above all else, is not a road Socialists should want to go down.<\/p>\n<p>Now Colin is a prominent political campaigner in his home city of Edinburgh. Since May 5<sup>th<\/sup>, Edinburgh City Council has been under the joint control of Labour and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>. All those planned cuts and privatisations, which the previous administrations \u2013 Labour\/Lib-Dem, then Lib-Dem\/<acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> \u2013 have found difficulty in getting fully implemented, will now be visited with a vengeance upon the council\u2019s workforce and service users. This can only bring Colin and the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> into headlong collision with the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_9');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_9');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_9\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[9]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_9\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s Edinburgh City Council coalition Depute Leader is the decidedly anti-Left Steve Cardownie (ex-<acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>, ex-Labour Party).<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>However, you do not even have to resort to speculation about future possibilities to see just how incompatible the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s aims are with those of the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>. For, it was an <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> controlled West Dunbartonshire council that suspended Jim Bolan, <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> councillor, for six months because of his commitment to taking action on behalf of workers in his constituency in defiance of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s imposed cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Colin\u2019s recommended two-track approach to Scottish independence \u2013 an official \u2018Yes campaign + the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s own campaign \u2013 is not fully shared by all the existing <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> leadership though. Other <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> figures, particularly from the Glasgow area, have been more damaged by \u2018Tommygate\u2019 and, whilst not yet publicly admitting it, they also probably privately feel that the current <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> project is over. They include, to different degrees, Frances Curran, Alan McCombes, Kevin McVey and Jim McVicar, who also enjoy support from a section of the old <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_10');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_10');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_10\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[10]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_10\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym>, or International Socialist Movement, was the majority Scottish breakaway from the <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> (Militant), originally led by Alan McCombes and Tommy Sheridan. However, \u2018Tommygate\u2019 blew the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> apart, and it subsequently dissolved itself. The online magazine, <cite>Frontline<\/cite>, represents though, in effect, a \u2018Continuity <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym>\u2019.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. There are a number of political responses arising from this other view. For some, it means quietly dissolving \u2018into the movement\u2019, for others it means forming a new Socialist \u2018think tank\u2019 to develop policies for a future new Socialist movement in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>However, another strategy has tentatively emerged from within this <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> grouping and amongst their close contacts. This involves joining up with the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym>, who are keen to set up a new socialist unity project in Scotland, to which others can be invited. Within this there would be an \u2018inner circle\u2019 (this method of operating also developed within the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_11');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_11');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_11\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[11]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_11\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">see section 2b of <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/23\/beyond-the-ssp-and-solidarity-forgive-and-forget-or-listen-learn-and-then-move-on\/\">Beyond The <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> And Solidarity \u2013 \u2018Forgive And Forget\u2019 or \u2018Listen, Learn And Then Move On\u2019?<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>)\u00a0to steer events, but it would be expanded to include selected new people. Meanwhile, prominent named activists and cultural figures give their public support, but are not necessarily part of the decision-making process. The <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym> resorted to this method of working when they launched the Coalition of Resistance<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_12');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_12');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_12\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[12]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_12\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The Coalition of Resistance was first set up in England and Wales by an earlier <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> breakaway there \u2013 Counterfire.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_12').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_12', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p>This, then, is the political context in which the Radical<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_13');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_13');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_13\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[13]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_13\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The adoption of the \u2018Radical\u2019 prefix rather than \u2018Socialist\u2019 is an indicator of the widespread lack of confidence on the Left today about the possibility of a genuine alternative to capitalism. Radicalism like populism is something that can have a Right or a Left face. However, the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> organisers do not intend to make any Rightwards political appeal; they hope by publicly disguising their own Socialism behind the ambiguous Radical label, it will be easier to bring others on board.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_13').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_13', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> Independence Conference (<acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym>) came to be proposed. The idea is supported more strongly by those <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\/<acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> survivors in the Glasgow area <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> leadership. Both Colin and Richie, though, see the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> as little more than a sideshow, both to the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign and to the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s own campaign.<\/p>\n<p>In the mid-1990\u2019s, many from the old <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> (later the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym>) saw New Labour\u2019s proposed devolved Holyrood parliament as the focus for the new political project, which they went on to advance in the SSA and <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>. Some of these people have similar ideas for a revived or new party in the future, based this time on the promise of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s \u2018independent\u2019 Scotland. Whatever the differences between some Glasgow area <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> leaders and Colin and Richie, both sides largely accept a Left nationalist framework, which leads them to a shared tail ending of the official \u2019Yes\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n<h3>Tale no. 2 continued \u2013 The Scottish Left and the Radical Independence Conference (<acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym>)<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3875\" src=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/560120_468745783140352_1728515105_n-300x1631.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"163\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The meeting, called under the name of the Radical Independence Conference (<acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym>), and held on Saturday 2<sup>nd<\/sup> June, in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Trades Union Congress\">STUC<\/acronym> buildings in Glasgow, was opened up to wider sections of the Scottish Left. However, this was the third meeting organised by the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym> and key individuals in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>. The organising group had already got as far as issuing a statement of intent and a platform.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe call on all progressive people and organisations to support, attend and participate in a conference to found an extra parliamentary, pro-independence campaign which puts forward a vision for Scotland that is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Green and environmentally sustainable.<\/li>\n<li>Internationalist and opposed to Trident and war.<\/li>\n<li>For a social alternative to austerity and privatization.<\/li>\n<li>A modern republic for real democracy.<\/li>\n<li>Committed to equality and opposition to discrimination on\u00a0grounds of gender, race or sexuality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This campaign belongs to everyone who holds a radical vision of an Independent Scotland. Socialists, environmentalists, trade unionists, youth, anti-poverty campaigners, cultural figures and all individuals who support the aims of this movement are encouraged to get involved.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Already a number of personalities, activists and one blog have signed their name to this statement. They include Iain Banks (author), Bella Caledonia\u00a0(Left nationalist blog), John Duffy (Secretary, <acronym title=\"Fire Brigade Union\">FBU<\/acronym> Scotland), Sinead Dunn (President, Glasgow School of Art Students\u2019 Association), Patrick Harvie <acronym title=\"Member of the Scottish Parliament\">MSP<\/acronym> (Greens), Joan Humphreys (Peace activist), Isobel Lindsay (Vice Chair, Scottish <acronym title=\"Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament\">CND<\/acronym>), Gordon Maloney (<acronym title=\"National Union of Students\">NUS<\/acronym> Scotland National Executive), Campbell Martin (Scottish Socialist Party), John McAllion (Chair Dundee Pensioners\u2019 Forum), Mhairi McAlpine (blogger and activist), Robin McAlpine (Chair, Jimmy Reid Foundation and Editor, <cite>Scottish Left Review<\/cite>), Greame McIvor (National Secretary, Solidarity), Patrick O\u2019Hare (President, St Andrews University), Jonathon Shafi (International Socialist Group), Domnique Ucbas (Vice President, Strathclyde Students Union).<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym> had made some attempt\u00a0to overcome the division that has plagued the Scottish Left since \u2018Tommygate\u2019. There are official <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> (Campbell Martin) and Solidarity signatories (Graeme McIvor), as well as one activist who left the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> (Mhairi McAlpine), who now works under a non-party label<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_14');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_14');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_14\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[14]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_14\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">In this Mhairi is probably representative of a significant section of former <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> members, who chose neither to remain in the party, nor to join Solidarity after \u2018Tommygate\u2019, but have found other arenas for their political activity.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_14').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_14', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. More worrying, though, if openness and transparency are meant to characterise any possible future campaign, is the fact that other individuals on this list, in either the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> or the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym>, do not publicly acknowledge this fact, e.g. John McAllion (<acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>) and Joan Humphreys (<acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym>). There could well be others who have not given their political affiliation.<\/p>\n<p>Following the call for this wider organising meeting on June 2<sup>nd<\/sup>, there were also at least three <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> members amongst the 100 or so\u00a0present. Other Socialists have suspected for some time that the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> and Solidarity have parted company in all but name, so despite the fact that Solidarity\u2019s organiser was already part of the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> (at least as a signatory), the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> was a little peeved at not having been formally invited, or knowing exactly who was behind the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym>. Nevertheless, both the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s Graeme Campbell and Ian Ferguson raised the important point that there should have been a general political discussion as to the purpose of the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> before the proposed workshops went on.<\/p>\n<p>However, the widely known fact, on the Left, that no such prior political discussion ever precedes the setting up of the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s front campaigns, and those signing up just have to accept that all the key decisions in these organisations will be taken beforehand by the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> Central Committee, meant that this useful suggestion was not directly taken up. Others present just bit their tongues, rather than pointing out the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s own lamentable record in these regards, fearful perhaps that this would only contribute to renewed acrimony amongst people who had hardly been speaking to each other for years. Instead, in a rather unsatisfactory manner, the Chair decided that this political discussion should take place in the workshop specifically designed for organising a conference in October. Many of the \u2018politicos\u2019 decided to attend this workshop.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, the ensuing debate in this workshop was mainly conducted in a non-sectarian manner, with even the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> members showing some restraint, and trying to avoid hectoring others. As it was, the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s most distinctive political position turned out to be a particular variant on an otherwise widely shared political spectrum dominated by Left nationalism.<\/p>\n<p>So, how had such an awkward political situation developed on the Scottish Left? Back on May 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2003, a triumphant <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> had won 6 seats in the Holyrood election. This was achieved against the background of massive opposition on the streets to the Iraq War, and to an unprecedented level of socialist unity. Labour lost 6 seats and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> 8. Labour was the \u2018War Party\u2019. The lacklustre <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leader, John Swinney had been publicly exposed as a supporter of that ultra neo-liberal measure \u2013 flat rate taxes, whilst Michael Russell, another prominent right-winger, went on to lose his seat in this election. <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> members and a couple of their <acronym title=\"Members of the Scottish Parliament\">MSPs<\/acronym> joined or moved towards the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>.<\/p>\n<p>Left British unionism was on the retreat in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, and even the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> publicly downplayed this aspect of their politics at the time. Left Scottish nationalism (which many former Left unionists, from both <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\/<acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> and Labour backgrounds, had begun to take up instead) was being increasingly challenged within the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> by republican socialism. The highpoint of this republican challenge was the Calton Hill Declaration and the successful protest against the royal opening of the new Holyrood parliament on October 9<sup>th<\/sup>, 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Then, a month later \u2018Tommygate\u2019 broke out! This has led to much animosity and division in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, and then to the post-split Scottish Left. The dire results of this are still with us today, 8 years later. However, the failure of the Left internationally to stop the Iraq War, despite the massive scale of the protests, also led many to lose their earlier confidence. This was accentuated by the lack of an effective fight back on the industrial front, both in Scotland and the wider <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym>. Many looked instead for soft electoral alternatives. In the 2007 Holyrood election, Socialists were wiped out, and a resurgent <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, under its returned charismatic and populist leader, Alex Salmond, went on to win an extra 20 seats and to form a (minority) Scottish government for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>With the ebbing of political confidence, support for republican socialism also became more marginalised on the Scottish Left<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_15');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_15');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_15\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[15]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_15\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">It still continued, though, in a more educational role, highlighted by the Republican Socialist Convention in 2008, which brought Socialists together from Scotland, Ireland (North and South) and Wales on an \u2018internationalism from below\u2019 basis. This was organised by the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s International Committee (see <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130201192238\/http:\/\/www.scottishsocialistparty.org\/new_stories\/events\/republican-convention-report.html\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130201192238\/http:\/\/www.scottishsocialistparty.org\/new_stories\/events\/republican-convention-report.html<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_15').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_15', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. Whilst unionism in all its varieties (especially Left unionism) has also experienced a further fall-off in support in Scotland, the new populist rhetoric of Salmond\u2019s <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has exerted a strong gravitational pull upon the Scottish Left. This has led to a resurgence of Left nationalism. It has been reinforced, of course, by the further decline of the Scottish Left vote at the 2011 Holyrood election, and by the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s spectacular electoral win, taking a further 23 seats, and forming a majority Scottish government for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Today, even the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> has made a U-turn towards Left nationalism, taking it away from its own earlier Left unionism. This is even more marked amongst its breakaway, the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym>. Such political U-turns are not unprecedented, since they do not require any abandonment of an inherited method of working, just a transfer of one\u2019s affection \u2013 from one state\/nation to another. Many recent (and now not so Left) nationalists in Georgia (e.g. Shevardnadze), Ukraine (e.g. Kuchma), Kazakhstan (e.g. Nazarbayev), Croatia (e.g. Tudjman), and Montenegro (e.g. Dukanovic), were once <acronym title=\"Union of Soviet Socialist Republics\">USSR<\/acronym> or Yugoslav unionists and <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym> loyalists.<\/p>\n<p>So, given the events of the past few years, it is not surprising that the meeting reflected this Left nationalist mood. Yet, there were still interesting discussions, because this political slide was also contested by some of those present. They showed a greater appreciation of the problems with the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign; or drew on more recent and partially successful struggles (e.g. from the Anti-Fascist Alliance and the Hetherington Occupation); or wished to retain at least some of the aspects of the socialist republicanism they had learned at the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s highpoint. Therefore, the discussions were worthwhile, and provided some opening for socialist republican ways of thinking and acting.<\/p>\n<p>John Shafi, the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Group\">ISG<\/acronym> organiser and <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> signatory, started the meeting well by placing the independence campaign in its international context, particularly the growing crisis in the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym>, and the heroic resistance being offered by Greek workers. Furthermore, it is likely that the current economic crisis will deepen even further, leading to the diminution or even the possible end of the euro currency zone. Any temporary resurgence of the pound will likely be short lived, given the extent of the City of London\u2019s financial involvement in Europe. There will be growing right wing pressure in the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> (particularly from those areas where <acronym title=\"United Kingdom Independence Party\">UKIP<\/acronym> threatens to take substantial support away from the Conservatives) for British withdrawal from the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym>, in order to promote the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> as a low tax, low wage and relentlessly privatised economy, eager to undercut the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> competition.<\/p>\n<p>If such a course of events develops, the one thing that cannot be guaranteed, in advance, is the continued existence of the current political line-up or balance of class forces, either in the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> or in Scotland, up to late 2014 \u2013 the year of the proposed referendum.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite this possibility, most of those present at the meeting put such strategic thinking aside. They proceeded as if the current <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign is going to be \u2018the only game in town\u2019. There was little understanding of the real nature of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership\u2019s own political strategy, despite an awareness of its neo-liberal economics and social democrat politics. This seeming contradiction between economics and politics is, in reality, no contradiction at all. Social democratic reforms have always been predicated first on the profitability of the wider capitalist economy. So, when that economy is in crisis, then social democrats\u2019 first job is to get it up-and-running again, and do whatever is necessary to achieve this. In the meantime any reforms are put on the back burner. Today, finance capital is at the very centre of capitalism, so this means doing whatever the banksters think necessary. We can see the baleful result of such politics in social democratic PASOK in Greece and in the Irish Labour Party.<\/p>\n<p>However, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership\u2019s real underlying strategy is not widely appreciated by the Scottish Left. The purpose of the new modernised and much slicker <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> is to gradually increase the political weight of a wannabe Scottish ruling class, not to lead a struggle for full Scottish self-determination, and certainly not to fundamentally contest <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> and British imperialism or the corporate capitalist order. The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has been able to mount much more professional campaigns, drawing in media proficient people, precisely because it has been courting ambitious members of the Scottish middle class by ditching more and more of its long-standing more radical policies.<\/p>\n<p>The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has begun to make inroads amongst management figures in the public sector \u2013 previously very much a Labour recruiting ground. Salmond\u2019s backing for Lena Wilson, \u00a3200,000 a year Chief Executive of the public Scottish Enterprise, in her moonlighting for the private Intertek Group, at \u00a355,000 for 12 days\u2019 work, is just one example of his determination to show other members of the wannabe Scottish ruling class that the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> is their party.<\/p>\n<p>There are other examples of this type of nationalist party \u2013 Parti Quebecois, Catalan Convergence and the PNV. These parties hope to inherit the property, profits and privileges currently held by their respective states \u2013 Canada and Spain \u2013\u00a0but transfer them into the hands of a new ruling class within their own more limited national territories \u2013 Quebec, Catalunya and Euskadi. Their chosen method to achieve this is to push for incremental reforms within the existing state in a way that is carefully managed from above, designed to prevent any radical challenges emerging from below.<\/p>\n<p>This is also why Salmond is so keen to have the second option \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 on the referendum ballot paper. This would provide his wannabe Scottish ruling class with a second bite at the cherry.\u00a0Failing this, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s official \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019 proposals themselves fall well-short of full Scottish sovereignty, and are primarily designed to appeal to disgruntled members of the existing Scottish establishment and careerist middle class. Therefore, despite all the hype, just as in the case of Barack Obama, whose Presidential campaign was about rebranding <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> imperialism; so Salmond\u2019s referendum campaign is about rebranding the Union.<\/p>\n<p>The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> is seeking, in effect, \u2018Independence within the Union\u2019. The political aim of business-savvy Salmond, in pushing for \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019, is not so much to make a hostile takeover bid for part of <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> plc, but to go for a junior management partial buy-out, with the promise of continuing profitable cooperation with the parent\u00a0company in the future. Under the new proposed set-up, though, all those shares transferred to Scottish ownership would, in future, be marketed with \u2018tartan\u2019 trimming.<\/p>\n<p>What Salmond and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership do understand, though, is that the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> is very much a declining imperial power<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_16');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_16');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_16\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[16]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_16\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">see <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/03\/the-making-and-the-breaking-of-the-uk-state\/\">The Making And Breaking Of The <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> State<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_16').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_16', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, and that the old British ruling class, its Scottish members included, no longer holds the power and hegemony it once did. Maintaining British imperial pretensions now depends on the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> acting as loyal \u2018spear-carrier\u2019 for <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> imperialism. That old British imperial glue, which very much held the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state together in the heyday of the Empire, and was accepted, not only by Conservatives and Liberals, but by mainstream Labour too, has been dissolving for some time.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, given current <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> imperial backing, and the British ruling class\u2019s centuries long experience in maintaining its domination, the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state remains a formidable opponent. It can draw on a full range of reactionary constitutional powers, including those provided under the Crown Powers. These provide for a whole host of anti-democratic and repressive sanctions. Some of these were demonstrated in the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state\u2019s brutal response, first to the Civil Rights Movement, then later to the Republican Movement in Northern Ireland. Therefore, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership has fully taken on board the natural caution of those new class backers the party is now courting. They have no intention of either killing off the<acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state, nor of challenging the dictates of the global corporations and their main backers \u2013 the <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> state.<\/p>\n<p>This is why the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> remains committed to retaining the monarchy and hence the Crown Powers. They are prepared to accept that any future \u2018independent\u2019 Scottish economy will be subordinate to The City in London, after having their fingers burnt over the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland (which have not been majority Scottish owned for a long time), and seeing the prospect of a strong euro vanishing. This desire to appease the powerful is also why the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has also made some pretty cack-handed overtures to \u2018Scottish-Americans\u2019 such as Donald Trump, and through its support for the April 6<sup>th<\/sup> Tartan Day in the <acronym title=\"United States of America\">USS<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_17');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_17');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_17\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[17]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_17\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Tartan Day was originally launched by Trent Lott, the racist and homophobic Republican Senator for Mississippi in 1998. However, its right wing provenance did not prevent former Labour Scottish First Minister, Jack McConnell, from backing it either.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_17').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_17', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>And, when it comes to recognition of global corporate capital, the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has fallen over itself to accommodate its demands \u2013 just think, Sir Brian Souter and Rupert Murdoch, or Amazon and the oil corporations. Salmond would like to scrap Trident and see Scotland moved out of <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>\u2019s nuclear frontline. However, although the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> do not yet say so openly, they would be quite happy for Scotland to be moved into to <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>\u2019s second tier \u2013 the Orwellian named \u2018Partnership for Peace\u2019. This would make Scottish airbases available as required by <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> forces. The Irish government has set the precedent for this at Shannon Airport.<\/p>\n<p>Once you are clear about the real purpose of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, then Salmond and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leaderships\u2019 intentions for the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign become much clearer. They will only promote those policies that are compatible with maintaining or winning the support of their current class backers and the wannabe Scottish ruling class they want to attract. And these aims are completely incompatible with the aims set out by the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> (or the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>).<\/p>\n<p>The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> will be prepared to accept Leftist non-<acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> support, as long as such people are prepared to act as \u2018useful idiots\u2019 for their campaign. This means the Left confines itself to the verbal or written promotion of a wish list of demands, to which the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> has no commitment, nor any desire to bring about, but which might attract some more na\u00efve \u2018Yes\u2019 votes. Any negotiations with the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> government will be entirely on the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> government\u2019s terms. If proponents of a \u2018radical\u2019 wish list approach fail to organise independently of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, or back down when they are told to, the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign can continue to tolerate them.<\/p>\n<p>The most na\u00efve speaker at the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> meeting thought that the proposed conference could apply for official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign funding. Indeed this and certain other contributions produced the most controversial contribution of the day. This came from the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s Murdo Ritchie, recent local council candidate in Glasgow. Murdo is somewhat of a maverick in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, a veteran of many Socialist organisations and campaigns, including recently Scargill\u2019s SLP. Murdo\u2019s own political world seems to be dominated by his view of the rest of the existing Left. This is why he has developed a very pessimistic outlook. He despaired of the lemming-like leap into the arms of the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, advocated by some at the meeting. He even went as far as to suggest a \u2018No\u2019 vote in the 2014 referendum may be the best option. Murdo was alone in this. In that wider world, outside Socialist meetings, he seemed oblivious to the dark political forces (not all confined indoors!) which such a \u2018No\u2019 vote could give succour to!<\/p>\n<p>The meeting\u2019s slide into increasingly Left nationalist thinking placed the focus firmly on the tactics towards referendum rather than developing a Socialist strategy for independence to break-up the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> state and <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym>\/British imperialist alliance \u2013 the main force responsible for maintaining the present global corporate capitalist order. Jonathan Shafi, who had started the meeting off so differently, also seemed to accept this lowering of the Scottish Left\u2019s political ambition in his contribution at the end.<\/p>\n<p>There was a widespread assumption that the same continued political line-up \u2013 the Tory\/Labour\/Lib-Dem unionist alliance on one side, and the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> dominated nationalist alliance on the other \u2013 necessitated a concentration on winning a \u2018Yes\u2019 vote; rather than building a Socialist campaign, which could, if the political situation changed dramatically take the lead in the battle for Scottish self-determination. Otherwise, it could begin to build up a big enough independent class presence to make its political weight felt, both in the run-up and, just as importantly, in the aftermath of the 2014 referendum. And, once again, there was no further recognition of the turbulent times the various states of Europe, and major alliances such as the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym>, are facing.<\/p>\n<p>Some present did see the problems faced by a \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign, which simultaneously promises banksters and corporate bosses a low tax Scottish nirvana, and workers and others a more prosperous and greener future. Therefore, there were contributions about the campaign \u2018getting the balance right\u2019, or increasing the &#8216;Yes&#8217; campaign&#8217;s radical appeal, but both still tacitly hoped that the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> would unwittingly open up new doors for the Scottish Left in the referendum campaign.<\/p>\n<p>We have recently seen this type of approach \u2013 the political tail ending of others, hoping to make some gains as a result, in other situations. This is just another result of the long period of defeats and setbacks. Nor is this underlying pessimism disguised by calling every meeting, demonstration or strike that occurs \u2013 \u201cjust brilliant\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, we have seen the public sector pensions campaign, which culminated in the millions strong strike, and massive demonstrations throughout the country on November 30<sup>th<\/sup> 2011. Nobody tried harder than the existing Socialist groups to build this action. The problem was, there was no political preparation for the completely predictable climb down by the <acronym title=\"Trades Union Congress\">TUC<\/acronym> and other trade unions leaders. Instead, the Socialist groups largely confined themselves, on the day of the strike, to calling on the same trade union leaders to give us more of the same.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, it was always very obvious that, once an already reluctant <acronym title=\"Trades Union Congress\">TUC<\/acronym> leadership had been goaded into organising this day of strike action, they would use the opportunity to say, in effect \u2013 \u201cLook Cameron and Clegg, here we are and this is what we can do \u2013 so let us get back into renewed negotiations, union by union, section by section\u201d. But, of course, such an approach can never achieve anything but the most marginal concessions.<\/p>\n<p>Most Socialist groups have become dominated in their thinking by a concern for immediate tactics, leaving the decisions over strategy to others \u2013 whether it be the <acronym title=\"Trades Union Congress\">TUC<\/acronym> (with behind-the-scenes Labour Party leadership help) on the pensions dispute on November 30<sup>th<\/sup>, or the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> over Scottish independence on Scotland\u2019s immediate political future. Yet, the <acronym title=\"Trades Union Congress\">TUC<\/acronym> leadership has no higher sights than keeping the Labour-supported \u2018social partnerships\u2019 \u2013 government, employers and trade union bureaucrats \u2013 going, and hoping for the return of another Labour government<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_18');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_18');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_18\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[18]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_18\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Some people have claimed that under Miliband, Blairite \u2018New Labourism\u2019 has been ditched. However, if anything, even further Right thinking has taken root in the\u00a0Labour Party. If New Labourism represented the impact of Thatcherism on the party, with its acceptance of neo-liberalism and craven subordination to <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> imperialism; then one of the most significant currents in the Labour Party today is Blue Labour. The development of Blue Labour\u00a0reflects a growing acceptance of ideas shared in common with the <acronym title=\"British National Party\">BNP<\/acronym>, especially over immigration and social conservatism. Whilst Blue Labour hasn\u2019t yet replaced the New Labour thinking (which remains strong), it has certainly had more influence than the shrinking Labour Left. The Left could not find enough backers for John McDonnell in his bid for\u00a0British Labour leadership in 2010, whilst in Scotland they were unable to\u00a0find a Left candidate for the Scottish Labour leadership in 2011.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_18').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_18', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>; whilst the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership seeks a new \u2018national partnership\u2019 between Scotland and Britain (England, Wales and\u2026<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_19');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_19');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_19\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[19]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_19\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Well, Northern Ireland does not figure in the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s calculations at all. This \u2018oversight\u2019 is also reciprocated by Sinn Fein, which, in acknowledgement of its leading position of one side of the constitutionally entrenched sectarian Stormont set-up, has declined to publicly support Scottish independence. Needless to say, the Unionists and Loyalists have not committed themselves to any such self-denying ordinance, and give loud backing to the British unionist \u2018No\u2019 cause.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_19').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_19', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>) under the Union of the Crowns \u2013 or \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>It was within this overall acceptance of the need to support the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019 option, that the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s Iain Ferguson, backed by Willie Black, raised its own distinctive tactical recommendation for the \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign. This was that the Scottish Left should support the adding of a second option on the referendum ballot-paper \u2013 \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019. The purpose behind this is to chivvy the <acronym title=\"Scottish Trades Union Congress\">STUC<\/acronym> and other trade union officials into trying to break with the current New Labour leadership\u2019s \u2018no, nae, never\u2019 strategy, and its British unionist alliance with the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems. Willie also asked us to take heart from the recent Broad Left electoral advance in UNITE<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_20');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_20');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_20\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[20]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_20\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Just how meaningful this Broad Left advance in UNITE is for Socialists can be seen in the article by Jerry Hicks, a worker and Rank and File candidtae, who opposed the Broad Left UNITE apparachik, Len McCLuskey, in the election for the union\u2019s General Secretary, See <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/23\/union-leader-slams-ed-miliband-but-who-put-him-there-in-the-first-place\/\">Union Leader Slams Ed Miliband \u2013 But Who Put Him There In The First Place?<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_20').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_20', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly the failure of the <acronym title=\"Scottish Trades Union Congress\">STUC<\/acronym> to take up \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019, even with the encouragement of such prominent \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 advocates as former Labour Scottish First Minister, Henry McLeish, is an indication of just how far to the right, the trade union bureaucracy has gone under its \u2018social partnership\u2019 with Blair, Brown and Miliband.<\/p>\n<p>However, one important difference between even \u2018Independence-Lite\u2019 and \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 is that the former at least gives constitutional sanction to a possible withdrawal from <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organization\">NATO<\/acronym>, and the ending of Trident, whilst the latter does not. Of course, this would not happen without a really significant extra-parliamentary campaign, especially considering the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s retreats over these issues.<\/p>\n<p>The economistic politics of the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> (and the <acronym title=\"Socialist Party of Scotland\">SPS<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_21');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_21');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_21\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[21]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_21\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialistparty.org.uk\/articles\/14593\/29-05-2012\/yes-scotland-independence-referendum-campaign-launched\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.socialistparty.org.uk\/articles\/14593\/29-05-2012\/yes-scotland-independence-referendum-campaign-launched<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_21').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_21', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, which also supports a \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 option) downplays such important political distinctions. Their attempt to push \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 is just part of these two organisations\u2019 wider orientation upon the trade union bureaucracy, rather than the rank and file. Certainly \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 could well be in some of these bureaucrats\u2019 interests. The major attraction of Home Rule for the old Liberal Party, and of Devolution for Labour and trade union leaders, has always been that this allows the pursuit of careers, both in the protected devolved institutions, as well as the institutions of the wider <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> (and, in the past, the British Empire).<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s and <acronym title=\"Socialist Party of Scotland\">SPS<\/acronym>\u2019s focus upon the <acronym title=\"Trades Union Congress\">TUC<\/acronym>\/<acronym title=\"Scottish Trades Union Congress\">STUC<\/acronym> and the trade union bureaucracies is consistent with their Broad Left approach in the unions. Here they demand that existing union leaders promote workers\u2019 economic struggles (e.g. over the pensions dispute), whilst their own Broad Left caucuses simultaneously clock up gains in the number of lay and full-timer trade union posts held. This latter approach, though, is often just another example of rampant careerism, encouraged by the difference in the pay of union officials compared to the members they claim to represent<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_22');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_22');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_22\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[22]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_22\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">It is significant that the Socialist Party (<acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>) has dropped the call for trade union officials in the PCS to be paid the average wage of the members they represent, now that they are in the leading position within that union. Similarly, leading <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> members (also from a <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> background) took a similar attitude to this issue, when this it was raised in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, after Bob Crow (paid over \u00a3130,000 annually) looked as if he might bring the RMT in Scotland much more closely towards the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> before \u2018Tommygate\u2019.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_22').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_22', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>Although the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> meeting organisers did appear to oppose the adoption of the <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>\u2019s promotion of a second \u2018Devolution-Max\u2019 referendum option, it is interesting that the first port of call for a trade union signatory on the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> statement was a trade union full-timer from the <acronym title=\"Fire Brigade Union\">FBU<\/acronym>. Yet, the most inspiring action recently taken by trade unionists has been the independent, rank and file action organised by the sparks to defend their all-Britain pay agreement<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_23');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3572_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_23');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_23\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[23]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_23\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Copies of the construction workers rank and file <cite>Site Worker<\/cite> paper can be had by contacting siteworkers@virginmedia.com.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_23').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3572_1_23', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, what the June 2<sup>nd<\/sup> meeting did lack was a serious consideration of wider strategic thinking, including what to do beyond October. Should the \u2018C\u2019 in the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> stand for a long-term campaign or just for a one day conference? These issues still need to be discussed and would probably have been welcomed on the day, given the undoubted enthusiasm of many of those involved to make a real impact in the future. This was shown most clearly in the report-backs from the other three workshops.<\/p>\n<h3>Beyond make-believe tales towards an effective strategy \u2013 the socialist republican approach<\/h3>\n<p>Allan Armstrong of the RCN raised an alternative socialist republican approach at the organisation workshop. Such an approach offers a challenge not only to all the established powers of the state (including the draconian Crown Powers) but to bureaucratic privilege everywhere \u2013 whether in parliament, council chambers and offices, or in trade union HQs and branch offices. It also suggested a different approach, which does not tail end the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>To make the best of the current wider international political possibilities, the Scottish Left has to raise its sights once more, as it started to do at the time of the Calton Hill Declaration. This means looking beyond the planned conference in October, and making plans to initiate its own active campaign. The purpose of this would not be to put pressure on the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym> leadership, but to take the leadership of the movement for Scottish self-determination out of its hands, and place it amongst those forces which could adopt a consistently anti-unionist, anti-imperialist and anti-corporate capitalist course. This would also mean organising such a campaign on \u2018internationalism from below\u2019 principles, bringing in Socialists from England, Wales and Ireland, and hopefully from within the European Anti-Capitalist Left Alliance (or other new forces to emerge out of the current resistance to the Troika\u2019s (<acronym title=\"European Commission\">EC<\/acronym>\/<acronym title=\"International Monetary Fund\">IMF<\/acronym>\/<acronym title=\"European Central Bank\">ECB<\/acronym>) austerity drive.<\/p>\n<p>The political situation is rapidly changing, and only when Socialists start to put forward our own independent course of action, will we make any real impact in the current conditions of deepening economic and political crisis. Then we can really link the growing demand for genuine Scottish self-determination with the possibility, not only of offering a vision of an alternative society, but of creating the type of independent political organisation and taking the necessary action to achieve this.<\/p>\n<p>Allan Armstrong. 17th June 2012<br \/>\n_____________________________<br \/>\nAlso see:-<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/31\/what-do-the-may-5th-local-election-results-mean-in-scotland\/\">What Do the May 5<sup>th<\/sup> Local Election Results Mean in Scotland?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/18\/the-scottish-independence-referendum-debate-part-3\/\">The Scottish Independence Referendum Debate, Part 3<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/06\/scottish-independence-referendum-debate-part-2\/\">The Scottish Independence Referendum Debate, Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/03\/26\/scottish-independence-referendum\/\">The Scottish Independence Referendum Debate<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/03\/the-making-and-the-breaking-of-the-uk-state\/\">Why We Need an \u2018Internationalism from Below\u2019 Strategy to Address the Crisis of the <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> State<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Footnotes<\/h3>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><h3><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3572_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3572_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3572_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/h3><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_3572_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Of course, it was dismissed by much of the \u2018No\u2019 supporting unionist press in Scotland. However, it is revealing that the official \u2018No\u2019 campaign is only going to be launched from a closed news conference with Alistair Darling (Labour), Charles Kennedy (Lib-Dem) and Annabel Goldie (Conservative). After Glasgow City Labour administration handed out grants to the Orange Order for Jubilee street parties, they are perhaps a bit wary about who might be attracted to a Union Jack festooned public launch.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Dougie Maclean wrote and sang the anthem <cite>Caledonia<\/cite>, although the best-known version is still Frankie Miller\u2019s, originally from the 1991 Tennents advert (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TX9h558Tz1E\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TX9h558Tz1E<\/span><\/a>), where the anonymous hero turns his back on Thatcher\u2019s London and returns to Edinburgh.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Tommy Brennan controversially encouraged the import of Polish coal to Ravenscraig steelworks during the 1984-5 Miners\u2019 Strike.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">This slogan is uncannily reminiscent of New Labour\u2019s 1997 \u201cThings can only\u00a0get better\u201d!<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_5');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>5<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite>Sunday Herald<\/cite>, 10.6.12<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_6');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>6<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite>Sunday Herald<\/cite>, 13.5.12.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_7');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_7\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>7<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">It is not only the Socialists, to their Left, that the official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign will need to watch. There will also be those notorious, thinly disguised racist, populist cyber-Nats, who will respond to British unionist provocations (including from neo-fascist Loyalists) with anti-English bile. The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s official \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign, though, is not designed to alienate the British ruling class, either with the prospect of Socialism on one hand, or anti-English sentiment on the other. It is about striking up a new deal \u2013 \u2018Independence within the Union\u2019.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_8');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_8\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>8<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Support for <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym>-type \u2018united fronts\u2019, as opposed to Trotskyist inspired \u2018united fronts\u2019, has brought Colin into disagreement with Richie Venton, the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s Industrial Organiser. Richie (also ex-<acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>) otherwise shares much of Colin\u2019s belief that the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> is the only significant Socialist organisation in Scotland. They retain their understanding of the best way to organise politically from their old <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>\/Militant training. However, this view no longer enjoys majority support amongst their former <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> members in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, especially in the Glasgow area.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_9');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_9\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>9<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s Edinburgh City Council coalition Depute Leader is the decidedly anti-Left Steve Cardownie (ex-<acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>, ex-Labour Party).<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_10');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_10\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>10<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym>, or International Socialist Movement, was the majority Scottish breakaway from the <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> (Militant), originally led by Alan McCombes and Tommy Sheridan. However, \u2018Tommygate\u2019 blew the <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> apart, and it subsequently dissolved itself. The online magazine, <cite>Frontline<\/cite>, represents though, in effect, a \u2018Continuity <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym>\u2019.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_11');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_11\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>11<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">see section 2b of <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/23\/beyond-the-ssp-and-solidarity-forgive-and-forget-or-listen-learn-and-then-move-on\/\">Beyond The <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> And Solidarity \u2013 \u2018Forgive And Forget\u2019 or \u2018Listen, Learn And Then Move On\u2019?<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_12');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_12\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>12<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The Coalition of Resistance was first set up in England and Wales by an earlier <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym> breakaway there \u2013 Counterfire.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_13');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_13\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>13<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The adoption of the \u2018Radical\u2019 prefix rather than \u2018Socialist\u2019 is an indicator of the widespread lack of confidence on the Left today about the possibility of a genuine alternative to capitalism. Radicalism like populism is something that can have a Right or a Left face. However, the <acronym title=\"Radical Independence Campaign\">RIC<\/acronym> organisers do not intend to make any Rightwards political appeal; they hope by publicly disguising their own Socialism behind the ambiguous Radical label, it will be easier to bring others on board.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_14');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_14\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>14<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">In this Mhairi is probably representative of a significant section of former <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> members, who chose neither to remain in the party, nor to join Solidarity after \u2018Tommygate\u2019, but have found other arenas for their political activity.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_15');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_15\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>15<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">It still continued, though, in a more educational role, highlighted by the Republican Socialist Convention in 2008, which brought Socialists together from Scotland, Ireland (North and South) and Wales on an \u2018internationalism from below\u2019 basis. This was organised by the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s International Committee (see <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130201192238\/http:\/\/www.scottishsocialistparty.org\/new_stories\/events\/republican-convention-report.html\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130201192238\/http:\/\/www.scottishsocialistparty.org\/new_stories\/events\/republican-convention-report.html<\/span><\/a>).<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_16');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_16\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>16<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">see <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2015\/10\/03\/the-making-and-the-breaking-of-the-uk-state\/\">The Making And Breaking Of The <acronym title=\"United Kingdom\">UK<\/acronym> State<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_17');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_17\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>17<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Tartan Day was originally launched by Trent Lott, the racist and homophobic Republican Senator for Mississippi in 1998. However, its right wing provenance did not prevent former Labour Scottish First Minister, Jack McConnell, from backing it either.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_18');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_18\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>18<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Some people have claimed that under Miliband, Blairite \u2018New Labourism\u2019 has been ditched. However, if anything, even further Right thinking has taken root in the\u00a0Labour Party. If New Labourism represented the impact of Thatcherism on the party, with its acceptance of neo-liberalism and craven subordination to <acronym title=\"United States\">US<\/acronym> imperialism; then one of the most significant currents in the Labour Party today is Blue Labour. The development of Blue Labour\u00a0reflects a growing acceptance of ideas shared in common with the <acronym title=\"British National Party\">BNP<\/acronym>, especially over immigration and social conservatism. Whilst Blue Labour hasn\u2019t yet replaced the New Labour thinking (which remains strong), it has certainly had more influence than the shrinking Labour Left. The Left could not find enough backers for John McDonnell in his bid for\u00a0British Labour leadership in 2010, whilst in Scotland they were unable to\u00a0find a Left candidate for the Scottish Labour leadership in 2011.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_19');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_19\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>19<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Well, Northern Ireland does not figure in the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>\u2019s calculations at all. This \u2018oversight\u2019 is also reciprocated by Sinn Fein, which, in acknowledgement of its leading position of one side of the constitutionally entrenched sectarian Stormont set-up, has declined to publicly support Scottish independence. Needless to say, the Unionists and Loyalists have not committed themselves to any such self-denying ordinance, and give loud backing to the British unionist \u2018No\u2019 cause.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_20');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_20\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>20<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Just how meaningful this Broad Left advance in UNITE is for Socialists can be seen in the article by Jerry Hicks, a worker and Rank and File candidtae, who opposed the Broad Left UNITE apparachik, Len McCLuskey, in the election for the union\u2019s General Secretary, See <a href=\"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/23\/union-leader-slams-ed-miliband-but-who-put-him-there-in-the-first-place\/\">Union Leader Slams Ed Miliband \u2013 But Who Put Him There In The First Place?<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_21');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_21\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>21<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialistparty.org.uk\/articles\/14593\/29-05-2012\/yes-scotland-independence-referendum-campaign-launched\"><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.socialistparty.org.uk\/articles\/14593\/29-05-2012\/yes-scotland-independence-referendum-campaign-launched<\/span><\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_22');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_22\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>22<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">It is significant that the Socialist Party (<acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym>) has dropped the call for trade union officials in the PCS to be paid the average wage of the members they represent, now that they are in the leading position within that union. Similarly, leading <acronym title=\"International Socialist Movement\">ISM<\/acronym> members (also from a <acronym title=\"Committee for a Workers' International\">CWI<\/acronym> background) took a similar attitude to this issue, when this it was raised in the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>, after Bob Crow (paid over \u00a3130,000 annually) looked as if he might bring the RMT in Scotland much more closely towards the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> before \u2018Tommygate\u2019.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3572_1_23');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3572_1_23\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>23<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Copies of the construction workers rank and file <cite>Site Worker<\/cite> paper can be had by contacting siteworkers@virginmedia.com.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_3572_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3572_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3572_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_3572_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3572_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3572_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3572_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3572_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3572_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_3572_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_3572_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3572_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_3572_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3572_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The SNP&#8216;s &#8216;Yes, Please&#8217; And The Left Nationalists&#8217; &#8216;Yes, But&#8230;&#8217; Tale No. 1 \u2013 the launch of the SNP\u2019s Yes campaign Alex Salmond launched the \u2018Yes\u2019 campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum at Cineworld in Edinburgh\u2019s Fountainbridge on the morning of Friday, May 25th. Apart from the delayed start, this media orientated event, attended&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843,1852,1855,1858,1861,1867,1873,1846,1854,1874,1845,1868,1878,1876,1875,1877],"tags":[230],"class_list":["post-3572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-capitalists-organise","category-how-communists-organise","category-exploitation-and-emancipation","category-oppression-liberation","category-alienation-self-determination","category-emancipation-liberation-and-self-determination","category-against-unionism","category-british-imperialism","category-the-left-crisis","category-republicanism","category-us-imperialism","category-against-imperialism","category-england-against-unionism","category-ireland-against-unionism","category-scotland-against-unionism","category-wales-against-unionism","tag-author-allan-armstrong"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":20749,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3572"}],"version-history":[{"count":70,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18429,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions\/18429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}