After the defeat of Yes in the 2014 independence referendum, many supporters saw the question of Scotland’s currency as a key weakness of the campaign. It has been a looming issue in the nearly five years since, with much of the grassroots movement demanding a bold and straightforward policy from the SNP. This came to a head in the SNP’s spring conference, where delegates clashed with the leadership over the question of a new Scottish currency.
Continue reading SNP Currency Debate: Divisions Open over Future of IndyTag: SNP
Scottish Labour, The National Question and The SNP
By Ross Walker
After two years of utter humiliation following the 2014 referendum, 2017 saw a gradual improvement in Scottish Labour’s fortunes. In June they increased their seats from 1 to 7 in the snap Westminster election. In November, left-winger, Richard Leonard was elected after decades of right wing leadership. The party finished the year with some polls showing them having overtaken the Tories in popularity.
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SNP Draft Budget Changes Nothing
By Harvey Dodds, IMT Edinburgh
The draft budget presented by the Scottish Government in December marked a chance for the SNP to embellish the anti-austerity credentials they have earned in recent years with a bold budget. With the tax powers that have been devolved to Holyrood, it would have been possible to significantly raise tax for the highest earners in order to fund redistributive policies, public sector pay, and investment without affecting lower earners. This, however, was not the case.
Scottish National Investment Bank: A Marxist View
The SNP Spring Conference endorsed a motion calling on the Scottish Government to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB). The idea of National Investment Banking has recently found favour among the left of British politics, with left wing Independence campaign Common Weal publishing a blueprint and Jeremy Corbyn proposing a British bank with regional branches as a key economic policy.
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New Challenges for YES Movement and SNP
Ross Walker, IMT Edinburgh
“With the rise of Corbyn, the SNP government needed to move to the left. Given the actual rise of a Frankenstein Tory right in Scotland, we were hardly risking anything. Besides, this morning we might have been celebrating a Corbyn government backed by the votes of nearly 59 SNP MPs.”
What the General Election results mean for Scotland
Editorial
The Tory Party has been humiliated. They’ve gone from having an overall majority to having to lean on the DUP. Corbyn is the hero of the hour having lead a campaign that inspired millions to vote and lead tens of thousands into political activity. The SNP still dominate Scotland by far but have taken a major kick. Key figures such as Alec Salmond and Angus Robertson have lost their seats. They’ve lost all their borders seats and much of the Highlands to Tories. In the central belt they’ve also lost seats to 6 seats to Labour who now have 7. They’ve even lost 2 seats to the Lib Dems.
Continue reading What the General Election results mean for Scotland
Sturgeon’s call for IndyRef2 sparks political storm
by Amy Dean
Nicola Sturgeon this week finally delivered the speech that had seemed almost inevitable ever since the Brexit vote in June last year. By announcing her intention to seek a second independence referendum, Sturgeon has started a political storm that will likely rage on – at the very least – until any referendum takes place. Continue reading Sturgeon’s call for IndyRef2 sparks political storm
SNP conference: Implications for class struggle in Scotland
by Ross Walker
Ross Walker of the Edinburgh Marxists discusses the events of the recent SNP annual party conference, where leader Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Beneath the apparent party unity surrounding independence, however, it is clear that strong class contradictions are developing within the SNP. Continue reading SNP conference: Implications for class struggle in Scotland
Marxism and the National Question in Scotland
by Alan Woods
We have entered into a new period on an international scale: a period of deep economic crisis, social and political instability. The masses everywhere are beginning to question things that were previously taken for granted. The whole political scene is a seething cauldron. In such a period sharp and sudden changes are implicit in the situation. The Scottish referendum was just such a sudden change, a political earthquake that upset all the calculations of the politicians. It represented a fundamental turn in the situation. Continue reading Marxism and the National Question in Scotland
