Slovenian philosopher, psychoanalyst and cultural critic
Slavoj Zizek makes the point that in
today’s neo-liberal society contradiction is the norm, people are increasingly
offered “products deprived of their malignant property: coffee without
caffeine, cream without fat, beer without alcohol”. Zizek argues that this
combination of ‘pleasure with restraint’ is a fundamental part of the
ideological framework that shapes our everyday lives; and I contend in this article that the SNP’s
policies equate to a similar ‘beer without alcohol’, change without change
approach that we on the left must remain critical of.
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| The SSP boycotted the Queen's opening of Holyrood and took a republican oath in parliament. |
Nicola Sturgeon told the SNP conference at the weekend that
the SNP opposed the anti-democratic House of Lords, she also outlined their
commitment to oppose the renewal of Trident Nuclear Weapons and said that the
SNP wants to challenge the austerity politics of Westminster. As a socialist, I
welcome all of this and indeed support all of these measures, however that is
not the full picture. While the SNP are happy to slam the anti-democratic House
of Lords, they paradoxically support the divine right of kings and believe the
Monarchy has an important role to play in society, according to the First
Minster the Monarchy operates as "a model that has many merits". With Trident too, the SNP have made it clear
that they are against the immoral weapons of mass destruction and will always
vote against any renewal; and yet they support NATO, a nuclear military
alliance designed to assist US imperial interests across the world. The SNP
have tried to position themselves as an economically ‘progressive’ party
offering a different solution to the austerity agenda of Westminster, however
at a local level the SNP have, like all the other main parties, slashed budgets
of local authorities. The SNP’s economics in particular highlight their
attempts to appeal to all, to offer the ‘coffee without caffeine’ seeking
approval of folk like Bryan Souter while concurrently trying to appeal to the
working class voters who are sick of Westminster austerity. The SNP suggest that Scotland can both have a
‘competitive’ market-led economy and simultaneously have a Scandinavian-style
social democracy with a generous welfare state supporting all in need. Research
by Michael Keating and Malcolm Harvey in 2014 suggested that there would be
two, distinct paths an Independent Scotland could follow: either follow the
neo-liberal market economy (the Celtic tiger’ the SNP favoured until the crash)
or the social democratic model with high taxation, a strong welfare system and
state intervention. While Keating and Harvey never considered socialism as an
alternative their point was very much valid- there can be no socially just
neo-liberal economy, it’s against the very nature of the system. The SNP’s
plans for the economy in an independent Scotland was one of their weakest
arguments during the referendum campaign. They tried to appeal to the relatively
affluent ‘Tartan Tory’ SNP heartlands while reaching out to the working class
majority, (aided by RIC and the SSP) in the traditionally Labour heartlands of
Glasgow, Dundee and much of the central belt. The result of the referendum was
clear, the working class were much more likely to vote for Independence with
the better off most likely to oppose it. Yet too much of the SNP’s effort went
into appeasing the well off with ‘change without change’, ‘beer without
alcohol’ pledges- Yes we want Independence but we’ll keep the pound, we’ll keep
the Queen, we’ll lower taxes and so on- only to meet with failure. Despite the
attempts to win over and entice the Tartan Tory demographic they overwhelmingly
voted no (including Alex Salmond’s own constituents), while many working class
areas voted in favour of self-determination.
Another recent contradiction in the SNP message has been
their approach to the UK General Elections. The SNP, now with over one hundred
thousand members are set to do very well in Scotland as working class voters
rile against the long declining Labour Party that toxically stood shoulder to
shoulder with the Conservatives during the referendum campaign. Current polls
predict the SNP are to win at least 30 seats, some polls suggesting as many as
53. The SNP are pledging to be a voice for Scotland in Westminster and make
sure the Westminster establishment deliver on their ‘vow’ of more powers for the
Scottish Parliament. This is a reasonable position, however their approach to
the Labour Party has again been a contradictory one. Sturgeon has recommended
voters back the progressive choice: the SNP in Scotland, Plaid in Wales and the
Greens in England. However the SNP know that there will be only two parties
seeking to form a government, the Tories or Labour. The SNP as expected have
completely ruled out any deal with the Conservatives but have remained open to
some sort of ‘confidence and supply’ deal with the Labour Party. So while the
SNP, quite rightly, attack Labour in Scotland,
at a UK level they are willing to prop up a neo-liberal Labour government which
has pledged to have ‘iron discipline’ when it comes to deficit reduction. The
SNP of course pledge to put the ‘backbone’ into
a Labour government and have committed to force Labour away
from austerity. Yet the message is another coffee without caffeine solution: we
want the Labour Party wiped out in Scotland but we want to see a Labour-led
government in Britain. They want to play
a part in a government led by a party they are apparently vastly different from,
in a state they committed to dismantling. This really is taking the change
without change message to the extreme, May will tell how many Scots buy this
message.
So while we on the critical left welcome the demise of the
Labour Party’s hegemony in Scotland, we must be equally critical of the
currently buoyant SNP. We want a better Scotland, a fairer Scotland, with
social justice, democracy, internationalism and ultimately socialism at its
heart. The SNP like to think they offer this with their ‘beer without alcohol,
coffee without caffeine’ solutions, but the message we need to tell people is
it just doesn’t taste the same- change without change is not enough, we want the real thing.
Another Scotland is Possible, and we can’t leave it up to the SNP to deliver.
By Andrew Kinnell, Stirling SSP Organizer and Executive Committee Member.