SNP – REVOLUTION

The Independence Election? (Editorial 38)

This May’s Holyrood elections will be a landmark event. With the coronavirus pandemic receding for the moment at least, after over a year of hardship for millions, and the SNP on course to form the Scottish Government for a fourth term, the question of Scottish Independence is being thrust to the forefront.

Salmond vs Sturgeon: SNP crisis envelopes Holyrood

It has been an explosive couple of weeks at Holyrood, as Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond testify before a special parliamentary inquiry, pitting current and former SNP First Ministers against one another. Representing rival factions of the party’s upper echelons, the personal break between Sturgeon and Salmond over the latter’s inappropriate conduct has had deep political implications.

In 2021 the Independence Movement must build a revolutionary party

2020 saw support for independence reach its longest consistent majority in history, according to 20 consecutive opinion polls. 2021 could well be a turning point in the independence movement. Socialists have an opportunity to seize and a duty to prepare.

Boris Not Welcome

Boris Johnson’s recent visit to Scotland was supposed to demonstrate the strength of the United Kingdom and the benefits of “mutual cooperation” between its constituent nations. Few people were convinced, however, of the sincerity of the messenger, or the point of the message pitched by Britain’s ‘Minister for the Union’.

Dundee City Council Backs Rotten Freeport Bid

Since September, discussions between Forth Ports, owner of the Port of Dundee, and Dundee City Council have progressed plans to establish a ‘freeport’ in the City.

Tory distain for devolution boosts independence cause

The Prime Minister’s choice of words has landed him in hot water again this week, as leaked reports from a meeting with Tory MPs have him calling Scottish devolution a “disaster” and a “mistake”.

Rifts in the SNP: How should the Left respond?

Whilst support for independence is growing, tensions within the SNP are also becoming more apparent. We’re just over half a year away from Holyrood elections where these increasing pressures will put the relatively stable dominance of the SNP to the test.

Social housing crisis is failure of pro-market policies

In any country that claims to care about the basic needs of its citizens, and where homelessness and precarious housing is on the rise, providing homes for people ought to be a priority of the Government. This is as true for the Scottish Government as it would be for any other, yet it consistently falls short on its promises.

SNP Side with Tories to Block Support for Tenants

By Phil Martin, IMT Edinburgh

MSPs belonging to the Scottish National Party teamed up with the Tories in the Scottish Parliament at the end of May in order to vote against measures designed to protect tenants during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Members of the parliamentary COVID-19 committee were considering amendments to emergency legislation that were put forward by Scottish Labour and the Scottish Green Party.

Scotland: An Independent European nation?

When the results of the 2016 EU membership referendum came in, Nicola Sturgeon took to the airwaves to denounce the fact that while the rest of the UK had voted to Leave, Scottish voters had not. While this fact has been consistently used to make a democratic case for independence, the SNP policy on the EU has evolved multiple times: from “special status”, to Single Market membership, to “Stop Brexit”. As Britain has now left the EU, this process of evolution has merged the two questions, with the main SNP slogan now being “an independent European nation”: advocating that an independent Scotland would re-join the European Union.