This is an article from the Communist Organisation of Scotland, which is the Scottish section of the United Communists of Europe. It was written in 2020, right before the outbreak of the covid pandemic. Alot has changed since the article was written and the situation in Scotland has somewhat changed. We are currently working on an updated statement that reflects the post-pandemic conditions of Scotland. We publish this statement to give readers a sense of how we would approach an issue like independence.
In our view, Scotland faces national oppression and has the right of self-determination, up to and including independence. As Scotland is still part of the antiquated United Kingdom, it must recognise the monarchy and the House of Lords, and does not have power over its own policies. There are significantly fewer Scottish MP's in the House of Commons, and the interests of Scotland are often side-lined in favour of England. Historically, the Highlands and the Islands have faced underdevelopment as a result of the Highland Clearances, which forcibly relocated thousands of Scots to the lowlands and concentrated land in the hands of a few. Furthermore, in the 80s, Thatcherite reforms deindustralised most of Scotland, devastating the Northern regions and creating significant poverty in the lowlands.In 1999, the Scottish Parliament was created and many institutions such as the NHS, the police, and schools were devolved. This was a major victory, as it gave the people of Scotland significant power to make their own decisions and govern their own institutions. As a result of being governed by more progressive politicians--both Labour and SNP--Scotland's NHS performs significantly better than in England. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Government responded much better than England, and had significantly fewer cases of Covid-19. Although Scotland must abide by UK immigration laws, it has a more progressive approach to asylum seekers and favours the free movement of EU nationals. It is not uncommon to hear an SNP leader denouncing the UK government's treatment of immigrants, and calls for the protection of rights of residents from the European Union.
The primary goal of Scottish Independence is the transfer of political power to the Scottish Parliament, which would allow Scotland to make its own trade deals, immigration policy, and economic development plans. It would allow the Scottish Government to invest capital in the Highlands, creating diversified, environmentally friendly industries in order to reindustrialise Scotland and create new employment opportunities for large communities. Furthermore, Scottish Independence would enable Scotland to enact land reforms and create agrarian co-operatives, which could be transformed into collective farms in a future socialist society.
Independence will enable Scotland to end the massive privatisations created by neoliberalism. An independent Scotland could nationalise transporatation, key industries, and massively expand public housing. Instead of using a points-based system to provide council housing, an independent Scotland could make public housing available to all and improve the quality of housing across the country. This is because independence enables Scotland to fully determine its own budget and where it allocates resources.
A defining element of Scottish nationalism is the absence of national chauvinism. Ideologically, Scottish independence is formulated as civic nationalism, which calls for the creation of a new Scottish state in order to make the Scottish people free from British domination. Communists must support this, as it would significantly hurt British imperialism and put the working people of England in a better position to fight for socialism. A post-independence situation would involve not just fighting the new Scottish bourgeoisie, but creating solidarity between Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish workers. Each of these states should assist the breaking up of Britain, in order to accelerate socialist revolutions across the British Isles and create a united federation of socialist states. In the same way that the Soviet Union consisted of a federation of former Russian territories, with the right to secede for each Soviet republic, a united federation of socialist states of the British Isles would recognise the right of secession for each member.
After independence, debates will erupt over what nations Scotland should align itself with. Scotland will have a choice: does it join the imperialist-backed alliance in the EU & NATO, or does it unite with progressive nations like Venezuela, Cuba, and China? At present, such debates are impossible, as the Tory-dominated UK government aligns itself with US imperialism and reactionary European capitalism. Despite breaking from the European Union, the UK will remain closely aligned with imperialism and its instutitions (I.e. the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, etc.). Only when Scotland is able to fully decide its own foreign policy will it be possible to decide what countries it aligns itself with. Hence, Scottish independence enables Scotland to become part of an anti-imperialist alliance, delinking it from the imperialist world system.
At present, Scotland does not have freedom to make its own immigration policy. The Scottish police must enforce the xenophobic immigration laws created by English politicians in Westminster, putting some asylum seekers in Dungavel prison. Scotland is being forced to withdraw from the European Union as a result of Brexit, and must enforce all the xenophobic Brexit policies at the end of the transition period. Yet, Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the European Union, is therefore being dragged out of it against its will. An independent Scotland would be able to create a progressive immigration policy that allows for free movement of people without being part of the EU. It could have a friendly relationship to Europe, and choose to become part of other regional organisations such as the Nordic Council. The leaders of the SNP are in favour of making Scotland welcome to asylym seekers, EU nationals, and anyone else who wants to start a new life here.
In Scotland, the dominant political organisation is the Scottish National Party (SNP), which made significant gains in the last General Election and controls many local councils. The primary goal of the SNP is the political independence of Scotland, and its transformation into a modern republic. Their programme contains a set of social-democratic policies, such as improved health-care, higher-quality free education, pro-woman, and an expansion of workers rights. It has fought to make Scotland a friendly and welcoming place for gay and lesbian people, and won protections for them. Also, the SNP’s programme for independence favours immigrants and seeks an open-border policy.
The SNP has a left, a centre, and a right-wing. The right-wing of the SNP is characterised by the Scottish domestic bourgeoisie, which is largely subordinate to transnational corporations and has little autonomy from them. It favours membership in the European Union, not in order to allow free movement of people, but so that it can easily invest in EU member states and easily export products. The SNP right is hostile to the expansion of welfare and favours privatisation of transportation and housing. It is pro-NATO and wants to make Scotland a partner with imperialism. Right-wing SNP leaders support austerity policies and are structurally hostile to the working class. This section of the SNP supports narrow-nationalism, and only wants Scotland to become independent so that it can advance its class interests. When people talk about the 'Tartan Tories', they are effectively talking about the SNP right-wing. Currently, sections of the SNP are dominated by the right, although they exercise significantly less influence than the past.
Besides the right-wing of the SNP, there is the centre, which is represented by figures such as Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP centre represents the Scottish petty-bourgeoisie, which is based in tech, engineering, higher education, and small businesses. It favours a Swedish-style social democracy with strong social democratic policies, devolution of all social security benefits, and the expansion of rights for marginalised people. Some elements of the SNP centre are slightly to the left, and also favour expanded workers rights and stronger trade unions. At the same time, the SNP centre does not favour the end of the pound, and envisions a common market with England after independence. The SNP centre is progressive, and communists in Scotland should unite with them in order to fight the SNP Right. Also, every demand of the SNP centre for more democratic rights, better welfare, and more devolution is in the interests of working people.
The most important section of the SNP is the Left, which represents a small section of the party and is organised through the SNP Socialists, the SNP Trade Union Group, and the SNP Friends of Palestine. This section of the SNP represents working class influences on the party through the trade unions and mass movements. The SNP left favours the nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy in Scotland, public ownership of transportation (i.e. Scotrail, First Bus, etc.), withdrawal from NATO, and generally takes anti-imperialist positions. Often, only left-wing SNP leaders have criticised Britains involvement in imperialist wars, and called for friendship between Scotland and Venezuela. Within the SNP left, there is also a strong critique of racism and xenophobia in Scotland, which often goes unacknowledged. Because of the work of the SNP left, Scottish Parliament voted to stop the export of weapons and police equipment to the United States in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement. A defining feature of the SNP left is a strong orientation towards the working class, and the recognition that a mass workers movement is necessary to really make Scotland independent. It adheres to the revolutionary traditions in Scotland, represented by figures such as John Maclean.
Communists in Scotland must unite with the left-wing of the SNP, and help organise it so that it can become an effective political force. We can do this by fighting against the SNP right, push the SNP centre over to the left, and making the SNP left the dominant force in the party. This requires being part of the SNP, participating in national meetings, calling for progressive SNP policies, and putting the working class at the centre of the independence debate. To put the SNP Left in command of the party means forming an alliance with the progressive SNP centre against the right-wing.
After independence, it is likely that the SNP will split based on the class affiliations of its different factions. The SNP Left, in alliance with sections of the centre and the left-wing of Labour, will split to form a new mass workers party. In addition to this, it is likely that the bourgeois section of the SNP will split to form a new capitalist party, leaving the remaining SNP in the hands of the centre. If communists have dedicated time to organising the SNP Left, this mass workers party will be strengthened and become a leading force in a new Scottish Republic. Without the dedicated work of communists, the SNP Left will not be able to form a workers party that is fused with the masses. Only communists--because they are equipped with Revolutionary Marxism--have the tools needed to create a mass party of the working class. Therefore, we cannot leave the SNP Left to opportunists and social democrats, but must unite the SNP Left and make it a leading force in the mass movements for independence.
We do not think that Scottish Independence will immediately result in socialism, as a socialist revolution is needed for this. During the first stage of Scottish independence, the left of the SNP can demand the nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy, socialist planning, a progressive immigration policy, and investment in state-owned enterprises. This stage will involve a confrontation with monopoly capital, and taxes on capital assets. The SNP left will be met with fierce hostility by the SNP Right, who will conspire against them, make allegations of corruption, and gain support from US imperialism to crush any attempts at nationalisation. For this reason, the right-wing of the SNP is the primary enemy of the working class and popular masses, and communists must lead the struggle against this section. By uniting with the progressive centre, winning it over to the left, a political force is consolidated that can prevent the SNP Right from determining Scotland's future.
In a post-independence situation, there will be significant debates about what road Scotland will take. Communists must be at the centre of these debates, using the post-independence situation to organise a large mass movement against capitalism, environmental exploitation, racism, and patriarchy in Scotland. It will mobilise millions of workers, young people, intellectuals, national minorities, and small business people. A movement of the popular masses will demand more than what capitalism has to offer, creating a political crisis for the new Scottish bourgeoisie. If communists have done the work of building their own revolutionary Marxist forces and fused theory with the mass movements, a revolutionary situation may emerge and a socialist revolution could become possible. A socialist revolution involves the seizure of state-power by the working class, the abolition of the capitalist state-apparatus, and creation of a new socialist state.
It is likely that during a revolutionary movement in an independent Scotland, workers in Wales and England, as well as Northern Ireland, will fight for socialism in the rest of Britian. If workers suceed in making a revolution in England and Wales, it will create the conditions for a socialist federation. This would allow Scotland, England, and Wales to become equal partners for the first time in history, sharing their resources, coordinating socialist planning, and allowing for an integrated socialist economy. They would remain independent, but would work together to create a socialist federation of Britain. Unless Scotland, England, and Wales become independent, it will not be possible create real equality between the nations of Britain.
We think that Scottish Independence is the first stage in the long road to socialism. We call upon our supporters to join the SNP and fight to strengthen the Left. At the same time, we invite those who have embraced Revolutionary Marxism to join the Communist Organisation of Scotland, in order to be part of the group that wants to make revolution. Together, we can fight for a communist Scotland, free from class oppression, misogyny, xenophobia, and racism. We must always look forwards to our socialist future, never backwards!
--The Communist Organisation of Scotland
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