Young Working People and Activism

Stirling Uni Student and SSP Activist, Greg Brown, on young people engaging in politics in a post-referendum Scotland. 

It is perhaps the single greatest element of an inspiring referendum campaign; Scotland’s young people are engaging with formal politics like never before, and it’s wonderful.

But, whilst universities and colleges provide an accessible means to activism and involvement, what is being done to further enfranchise those who chose not to go on to higher education?  What can we do to make sure those young people working full-time, part-time, undertaking apprenticeship schemes, or still looking for work are at the forefront of our revitalised democracy?

Those from backgrounds where higher education isn’t as emphasised and encouraged are also the most likely to feel alienated from the political system and its inherently elitist institutions and practices. The existence of a political class, made up disproportionately of the privately educated, is something that creates an ‘us and them’ situation in what should be the most transparent and accountable of public relationships, that between a constituent and their elected representative. Certainly, qualified university graduates are both needed and warranted within the political system, but we must ensure that those from differing backgrounds – the vast majority of the electorate – are not left isolated from the political process as a result.

Working full-time, dealing with the stresses and strains that come with that can act as a means to inaction. Many young men and women working straight out of school know all too well the demoralising and debilitating nature of zero hour contracts and poverty pay. Many work 40 hours a week to still not be able to make ends meet. These are the people we need on the streets, in the housing estates and on the shop floors, letting their employers and fellow employees know that something needs to change. Whilst trade union prevalence and membership is extremely low in associated industries, and traditional avenues to organised action are stunted, the Yes campaign paved the way to utilise other means.

It is not enough to simply show up in May of any given election year, chap a few doors and hope that the same people you haven’t given a monkey’s about since they last voted for you, will do the same again this time. This is part of the political culture we must dismantle, prevalent within a certain party that are about to feel the wrath of Scottish communities who are sick and tired of being taken for granted.

Weekly public meetings and stalls allow people to hear and interact with issues both specific to their community and the nation at large, a simple, yet invaluable tool in keeping democratic fervour alive and well. The SSP for example, hold weekly stalls in town centres across the country campaigning for a living wage and workers’ rights. Beyond this, and more tailored to the elusive demographic this article speaks to, is schemes and programmes which have an emphasis on out-reach, not waiting to catch them on their way to work or from the shops, but going into communities, knocking on doors and asking them what they want to see change, empowering them to change it. It is through such programmes that footholds are created, one activist turns into two, and then a plethora of dedicated, young workers are indelibly involved with the politics they are passionate about, rolling out these ideas across the communities they live in, and in the spaces they work. This encapsulates the importance of activism within disenfranchised communities, there can be no preaching to, but discussion within, and young workers are the most effective means to sparking these much needed debates.

Most university campuses have societies affiliated to all three Yes parties, why can’t we give young workers a similar means to political engagement? Party youth wings must be at centre of how young workers cut their political teeth, providing them with a safe platform from which to learn about the workings of the political arena, where they can voice opinions and organise without fear of delegation from senior party members. The move from no political involvement to trying to have your voice heard amongst experienced and influential party officials can be a jarring one, and will put off many. Youth wings offer not only entry to organised politics for formerly disengaged young working people, but they also provide parties with fresh and invaluable insight, something which can go a long way to ending the old male, pale and stale politics practiced at Westminster and beyond.

Groups like Generation Yes and The Radical Independence campaign made it a priority to reach out to those in the poorest areas, to make sure they were registered and brought into the debate in any capacity they wished. This must remain a priority moving forward. The explosion of talented young political activists from working class backgrounds during the referendum can’t be a flash in the pan, and efforts must be made to secure this as a main stay of Scottish politics.

The Yes movement was at times the perfect hybrid between grassroots activism and formal political campaigning. It was innovative and vibrant, something that can’t be said for the way things were before. How we shape our society must not be an exclusive debate between ‘intellectuals’ and members of the formal political class, but instead include and emphasise the input of ordinary working people up and down the country; those who need a platform and means to find their voices. If we are to move forward in the spirit of the referendums democratic revolution we must ensure that those formerly forgotten know what politics can do for them. It is theirs to grasp and sculpt, with a power to enable and empower their communities more effectively than any elected official; there’s no better way of breaking the cycle of political dormancy than by helping our young working population lead the charge.

By Greg Brown

The SSP and the Scottish Left Project

SSP Stirling Co-Chair and Executive Committee member Jenni Gunn gives her thoughts on the SLP.

The explosion of human talent and energy that was released during the exciting and exhausting two years of the independence campaign will, we all hope, be the lasting legacy of this extraordinary experiment in democracy. With a record number of people registering to vote, to the incredible turnout at public meetings across the country, we began to see that politics in Scotland and across the UK presented us with challenges old and new, but also exciting possibilities. Activists and advocates from all backgrounds stood together to push for constitutional change. Yes Scotland and the wider independence movement benefitted from the Scottish Socialist Party’s vision of an independent, socialist republic in Scotland. The SSP was well rewarded from taking part in the campaign – our membership has grown, our determination has been focused and we cannot abandon those causes that we fought for during the referendum. We must not abandon those ambitions for an independent, socialist Scotland that puts people before profit. We know that we are in need of radical social, economic and political change.

The SSP should be at the front of the push for this change. During the referendum we brought a unique vision to the table. Whilst we worked with our colleagues in the Scottish Greens and the Scottish National Party (and countless others affiliated to no particular political party or ideology), we stayed true to our principles, and took firm stances on many issues including reaffirming our commitment to see Scotland established as a republic. We disagreed with the SNP on currency and corporation tax. Our politics never became diluted – we were and remain committed to fighting for social justice and equality in the best way we know how. We still stand unequivocally on the side of workers and condemn the austerity agenda of the Westminster parties. We were involved in the Radical Independence campaign – which proved that when we want to those on the left can work together. Our members swelled the ranks of Women for Independence groups and National Collective activities the length and breadth of the country. The SSP can work with others to advance its goals and enact real change. We make good partners for anyone wishing to challenge austerity and Westminster elitism. 

Jonathan Shafi, co-founder of RIC, recently attended a Stirling SSP branch meeting to answer questions from members about a new venture – the Scottish Left Project. In the project’s opening statement, it reads “There is a need for something truly new and original to be born out of the independence movement…we do not presume to have all of the answers, but we intend to start a conversation around certain core principles that must be represented in politics once more.”  The Left Project is not and has no intention of becoming a political party. It is a coalition of the activists, advocates and political actors of the left – a place for discussion but also a place for action. The 2016 Holyrood elections present the left in Scotland with a challenge and an opportunity. It is imperative that we see a strong, united, credible challenge from the left in the Holyrood elections. Just as the SNP could not have achieved the incredible 45% yes vote in the referendum alone, the SSP cannot change Scotland without working with our comrades outside of the SSP. Just like the referendum, this isn’t just about political parties. In trying to create an opposition and an alternative to the SNP, the left must organise. We cannot let factionalism or party loyalty overshadow what is the real issue – letting the people of Scotland be heard.

The Left Project could potentially facilitate dialogue between forces on the left in order to ensure socialist representation at Holyrood. The SSP must be at the centre of this dialogue. A coalition of the left in Scotland without the SSP lacks credibility. Just like when the SSP worked with others in previous campaigns, we know that when we work together we achieve great things. We lost the referendum – but 5 years ago who would have ever thought that 1.6 million people would support the case for independence? We were part of that – and in order to continue to make an impact we need to continue to work together. 

What’s more, the SSP knows this. We proposed a Yes Alliance made up of the three pro-independence parties and other pro-independence activists to field candidates in the upcoming general election. The other two parties made the political decision not to participate in an alliance, which was their decision to make. Now we are being asked to work with others to advance socialism in Scotland by joining another coalition. How can we decline the invitation? 

We as a party have the chance to participate in something new and fresh. It’s a chance to pull all our resources, our talents and our ideas together. We can still organise our own meetings, formulate our own policies and use our voices the way we always have. Undoubtedly there will be differing views as to which candidates involved in the Left Project should stand where; but as comrades we can come to these decisions together without factionalism or tribal loyalties – but with vision and support for those who speak in favour of our ideals.

The SSP in itself is like a coalition – we’re made up of Marxists, feminists, Trotskyists and everything in between – but we make it work, and our diversity enhances our policies and our aids in our evolution as a political party. We have a chance to retain our identity as members of the SSP, but also to help push for greater political diversity – to grow and blossom as part of a coalition that stands for the ordinary working people of Scotland and demands that socialist voices be heard. As the Left Project opening statement asserts: “Let’s talk, lets act and lets work together to ensure that at 2016 there is a co-ordinated socialist challenge engrained in the communities and campaigns who are at the forefront of changing Scotland.” These are things that should come easily to us.

Ultimately it will be up to party members to decide to engage with the Left Project or not. But I for one will be arguing for our involvement and look forward to the SSP taking a leading role in a project, another experiment, that has the potential to radically change Scotland.

By Jenni Gunn

For more opinion on the Scottish Left Project, see Dave Mundt's article.

Right Wing Sensationalization of Drug Legalization Costs Lives

It will be no surprise to find out who wears the trousers in Downing Street’s ConDem coalition. No matter how much spin he tries to put on it, the electorate have realized that the Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats have allowed the Tories to implement 5 years of destructive austerity and have failed on almost all of their campaign promises. Even the bills that they were allowed to send to parliament as part of the coalition agreement; House of Lords and voting system reform; were watered down and bombed out in a commons vote or referendum. 

In October, a long awaited Home Office report could have changed the way that future generations look back on this government and the way that Nick Clegg goes down in history. Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone spent a year looking at how other countries tackle drug use and came to the conclusion that most sociologists already know. Prohibition doesn’t reduce consumption.

At the time, we thought that this report could pave the way for one of the most progressive pieces of legislation that a Tory government has ever produced. After all, there is even a strong right-of-centre argument for legalization on the grounds of personal liberty and freedom. The Conservative party has even had various think tanks on the issue over the years.

Instead, the right wing tabloid media sensationalized the story and the Tories soon pulled the plug on Nick’s wee project for fear of losing even more traditional Tory votes to UKIP. David Cameron defiantly announced that he “doesn’t want to send a message to kids that taking drugs is acceptable”. Thus reassuring the middle/upper classes, who don’t typically have problems with illegal drugs, that he was a reliable dinosaur that they could put their faith and money into.

Did the Prime Minister read Mrs. Featherstone’s report? If he did then he would have found out that it doesn’t really matter what message an Oxbridge toff broadcasts into the schemes of urban Britain, cannabis and harder drugs are readily available and generation after generation will turn to them to try and escape from the poverty created by his neo-liberal agenda.

The Home Office report examined cases of cannabis decriminalization, which are becoming more frequent every year in every continent. The report found that it can take the supply and profit out of the hands of gangs and into a taxable process, reducing crime which is often seen as the most dangerous part of the cannabis trade. Age restrictions can also be implemented on the purchase of a plant that world leaders (including our very own Mr. Cameron) have admitted to using in their youth and is far less damaging on your health than alcohol and tobacco.

Harder drugs like Heroin are very different; there is no doubt that they are very bad for your mental and physical health. However, making the users criminals is counter-productive and unfair. Addicts are victims. Victims of a failed society and governments who have let them down for generations.

The report examined the Swiss solution to spiraling heroin and cocaine use in the country, for the state to provide heroin to addicts in state run facilities. The study found that treating heroin like a medical, not a criminal, issue made it easier to treat and fight the addiction. Addicts were using clean needles, not having to steal to fund their habits, surrounded by healthcare professionals and provided a safe place to live while they got better. This method works in Switzerland and other countries where it has been tested in reducing heroin consumption.

The lesson that the British political class should have learned from this report is that we are decades behind the rest of the world and our outdated approach to social problems is counter-productive and costing the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. It shows that progressive thinking and compassion are more effective than hounding and locking up people who should be treated as victims. Should we expect anything else from our out of touch government of millionaires who have no idea what really goes on in their country?

By Hugh Cullen