Stirling University SSP Co-Convenor, Hugh Cullen, critiques the current UK bourgeois democracy that is set up against the working class.
The racist former Tory MP, Enoch Powell,
once said; “power devolved is power retained”. While we should ignore most of
what is said by the man who once delivered his now infamous ‘rivers of blood’
speech, this couldn’t be more true.
London fought off the creation of a
Scottish Parliament for years and then only eventually allowed it because they
thought that it would kill the possibility of independence “stone dead”;
feeding the pesky Scots breadcrumbs to stop us stealing the loaf. Little did
they know that they would put Scotland on the brink of a democratic revolution
that would take the might of the British establishment to quell.
A quick analysis of the referendum results
paints a depressing picture. The 45% that voted Yes were the poorest in our
society, only defeated by a big turnout from the comfortable middle class and
the elderly who were duped into fearing change. The 45% were inspired by the
glimmer of hope that independence gave us; ready to take on the responsibility
of running our own affairs and determining our own future.
The Yes vote was a cry for help. A cry from
Scots who have been plunged into poverty by austerity they didn’t vote for, a
cry from Scots who have been let down by Westminster for generations, a cry
from Scots who don’t have a working class voice in politics.
While I am a democrat, I do not support the
bourgeois representative democracy that Westminster allows us. I will not choose
between one millionaire or another, in a first past the post race to fly down
to London to claim expenses. I will not allow corporations to manipulate
politicians into a race to the bottom over market deregulation and tax. I will
not support the privatization of our national assets. I will not sit down and
be quiet while our immigration policy is dictated by fear and xenophobia. I
will not let our environment be destroyed in the name of private profit.
The inconvenient truth is that this kind of
pseudo-democracy, propped up by the monopolised media, fails the working class.
It allows those who have power to tighten their grip and discourages public
debate outside the allowed spectrum. As Jim Sillars reminded us, on the day of
the referendum the Scottish people had full sovereignty in their hands – they
had to choose whether to keep that sovereignty, or hand it back to politicos in
Westminster.
We were deceived. Lied to by the British
establishment in their in their last great act to defend a declining empire. They
have failed on almost every count of the promises that they made and we won’t
let them get away with it.
When the SNP had the chance to nationalise
the railways and abolish the bedroom tax, they didn’t. They told us that they
didn’t have the power. Is this the same SNP who claim to ‘stand up for
Scotland’? As the parliament of Scotland, Holyrood has the mandate to execute
the will of the Scottish people. Real democracy is the working class taking
what they need, and who’s going to stop us?
We don’t need a second Edinburgh agreement
to have another referendum. We should call another referendum as soon as public
opinion suggests that a majority supports independence; an inevitability after
we get another government that Scots didn’t vote for and see the UKIP epidemic
sweep across England while we continue to reject racism.
Now, the UK mainstream media are hounding the SNP at the thought of them being a junior member of a government coalition and government figures are howling that the union is still at risk despite "the question being settled for a generation". A far cry from the coverage during the referendum where Scots were encouraged to engage in national politics, it seems we can only participate via 'establishment approved', unionist parties. Independence is deferred, not defeated. But will the 2016 Holyrood parliament get it done? It might involve breaking the rules and I don't think that the SNP are up for it.
Now, the UK mainstream media are hounding the SNP at the thought of them being a junior member of a government coalition and government figures are howling that the union is still at risk despite "the question being settled for a generation". A far cry from the coverage during the referendum where Scots were encouraged to engage in national politics, it seems we can only participate via 'establishment approved', unionist parties. Independence is deferred, not defeated. But will the 2016 Holyrood parliament get it done? It might involve breaking the rules and I don't think that the SNP are up for it.
By Hugh Cullen