Thursday, December 26, 2019

What Next for Scotland After the Election?
Scottish communists on the independence question and the role of self-determination

Morning Star, London

SCOTTISH communists met in Glasgow to analyse the post-general election situation and consider whether it was time to revisit our position on Scottish independence.

While supporting the rights of the Scottish people to self-determination, the party agreed to clarify its long-held position of support for radical federalism which would create in Scotland the possibility of transforming the current Scottish Parliament into a workers’ parliament as envisaged by Scottish communists such as miners’ leader Michael McGahey.

The party in Scotland will continue to seek to build on the unity won during the election campaign with the Labour left, a campaign that exposed the hypocrisy of the SNP which was saying different things in different parts of the country and failed to even mention the trade unions in its manifesto.

The SNP vote was not as overwhelming as portrayed in the mainstream media, with 45 per cent of the vote gathering 80 per cent of the seats, and even Nicola Sturgeon admitted many voters “lent” the SNP their vote while not supporting independence.

This could be seen in places like East Dunbartonshire in an effort to remove Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson.

The SNP failed in their main claim to stop Brexit and block Boris Johnson from Downing Street.

Despite Johnson’s bluster, the Tories will face difficulties as tensions will be exposed between the European Research Group wing and the organisations of corporate capital as they seek to determine the sort of Brexit these competing wings want.

Their new MPs in working-class areas will face a backlash on the ground over the desperate situation many of their constituents will find themselves in over the full roll-out of universal credit.

Scottish communists and their growing membership will increase their extra-parliamentary agitation, working in the trade unions, trades councils, the People’s Assembly, tenants’ and other community groups building opposition to Tory and SNP attacks on the working class.

The Party’s Scottish committee will be organising political education on the national question along Leninist terms, focusing work in trade union and community organisations at the base, where trust can be built on the issues.

Communists seek to build an organisation of politically educated militant activists in these areas.

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