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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part fourteen

8/19/2014

14. Local flora and fauna

I’m not sure who came up with the phrase ‘settled will’ in relation to Scots and politics, but clearly they’d never hung out with the Scots I know. Having lived in Scotland - in tenement, peace camp, semi-detached, bedsit and caravan – I would have to say I’ve never encountered a settled will with anybody. In fact, I’m not sure that any group of homo sapiens are capable of agreeing to a settled will of anything, unless of course the settled will of somebody who is safely deid.

The best we can hope for is to muddle along and resolve any conflicts with mutual respect, common sense and a healthy sense of humour. Far from being something to lament, our all too human failings and flounderings towards messy agreements can have brilliant and creative results that are perfectly suited to the moment. Of course such arrangements, born from human failings and ingenuity, can have unexpected results. The Scottish Parliament that was reconvened in 1999 is a good example of the contradictions, limits and potential of human creativity. Its existence has had some strange consequences and continues to throw up new weird and wonderful realities, not least for the local political flora and fauna.

As an older unionist friend of mine (and committed No voter) often reminds me the Scottish Conservatives were the only party ever to have won a majority of the vote in Scotland. This was in 1955. My friend remembers this election vividly, and has often told me of how he stood in Glasgow Green as the Tory candidate declared to a cheering audience, ‘Vote for us and we’ll do to the Catholics what Hitler did to the Jews!’ Within a decade of that victory the Unionists of Scotland had been merged into the bigger UK Conservative and fell into decline. The advent of Thatcherism speeded up the decaying process. Seemingly intent on self-destruction, the party vigorously opposed devolution in the 1997 referendum.

However, once the Scottish parliament was set up the Scottish Conservatives adapted to the new reality, campaigned vigorously as ‘a patriotic party of the Scottish centre-right which stands for freedom, enterprise, community and equality of opportunity’ and established itself as the third largest party in the parliament. It is still part of the larger UK party but in carving out a separate Scottish identity it appears to have slowed its rate of decline. It would seem, alas and alack, the Scottish Tories are going to be with us for a long time to come.

The fourth largest party in the Scottish parliament remains the Lib Dems. It should be no surprise that they sought to create a stable government with Labour in 1999 and 2003. It was the liberal governments of the late 19th and early 20th century that debated Scottish Home rule 15 times over 25 years. While Labour shamed Scotland and itself with its infighting, corruption, sectarianism and slavish obedience to Westminster diktat, the Lib Dems managed to provide a steadying influence.

When the Scottish electorate kicked the Labour and Lid Dem alliance out of power in 2007, the Lib Dem vote held up, whilst Labour’s fell. The liberals looked destined to continue being a small but respected part of Scotland’s political landscape. However, the Lib Dems too are part of a wider UK party. Following the 2010 UK general election, the UK Lib Dems chose to go into government with the Tories. In the 2011 Scottish election the liberal vote vanished like snow off a dyke. The machinations of its UK parent prove to be as toxic for the Lib Dems of Scotland as British Labour’s machinations had been for Scottish Labour.

Now read: Part Fifteen. A legacy betrayed

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

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There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

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@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part thirteen

8/16/2014

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13. Reasons to be cheerful.

There was huge optimism at the return of a Labour government in 1997. But even in the early years, as thousands of Scots joined the Labour Party, other Scots were involved in local campaigns to prevent the closure of schools and community centres. Protests and blockades also met the convoys that were bringing trident nuclear warheads into Scotland. Trident nuclear submarines remained based at Faslane Naval Base, again under protest and constant observation (I had the unnerving experience of witnessing an emergency evacuation there following an accident on one of the submarines).

On a cold December evening in 1998 protesters gathered in George Square, Glasgow (and in other parts of Scotland, the UK and USA) to protest at the violent gunboat diplomacy of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. Using information gathered from US spies in the UN Inspectorate team in Iraq, the UK and USA attempted to topple Saddam Hussein through a four day cruise missile bombardment of Baghdad. The Big Lie was that the bombardment was to rid Iraq of the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, which it did not have.

While much attention was on the grand opening of the new Scottish parliament in 1999 these other narratives and conversations (and many more besides) were being played out across Scotland. Though the Scottish parliament soon fell into disrepute, the election results of 2003 did succeed in reflecting new ideas and concerns. At a superficial level nothing much seemed to have changed. Labour, with the LibDems, remained in control of Scotland’s executive, while the SNP remained the official opposition. However both the SNP and Labour lost seats, whilst a hail clanjamfry of new and enthused voices entered the parliament.

Seven seats were won by the Green Party which campaigns for an independent Scotland based on the protection of the environment and equality for all. Six seats were won by the Scottish Socialist Party, who believe in an independent Scottish republic ‘run for people not for profit’. Four independents were also elected. They were: Dr. Jean McGivern Turner a general practitioner won a seat after campaigning against Labour’s attacks on the NHS; Denis Canavan, a former Labour MP, who stood as an independent demanding a progressive and socially just Scottish parliament; Margo McDonald, a former SNP MP who was a left wing critic of the SNPs fundamentalist Independence or nothing position; John Swinburne who represented the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, which campaigned to end poverty for all senior citizens in Scotland.

The message was clear: While Labour and the SNP liked to portray themselves as the two main antagonists struggling heroically over the destiny of the Scottish nation, Scots had blown both parties a big and bold raspberry. Scotland was far bigger than either the SNP or Labour or even the Scottish parlaiment. Scots had shown quite clearly that they had plenty of other options. If Labour and the SNP refused to listen to the needs of Scots, then they and the parliament they used for their school yard rammies could all go the way of the dodo.

As it was Labour and SNP did listen and they listened very carefully. Labour though simply could not believe that Scots would vote against it. It responded with an arrogance and contempt that grew bigger and shriller as its vote base vote grew smaller and smaller. The SNP, however, reacted very differently. Alex Salmond was a former leader of the SNP. His left wing leanings, gradualist approach and support for devolution had led to his losing the leadership to the fundamentalists. In 2004 he announced he was standing for the leadership again. He won a landslide victory. Suddenly it seemed as if the joker of the pack was about to become the ace in the hand of Scottish politics.

Now read Part Fourteen: Local flora and fauna

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

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For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

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There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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CELTIC TALES -Scottish Independence Celebration in Galway

8/15/2014

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Celtic Tales - Scottish Independence Celebration

The 18th of September is the day of the Scottish independence referendum. To mark the occasion the world famous Celtic Tales storytelling sessions in The Cottage Bar, Galway, will be turned into a celebration of Scottish culture and the ideals of Scottish Independence. Storyteller Rab Fulton - originally from Glasgow but living in Galway for most of his adult life - will be telling wild and hilarious tales from Scotland. To make the event extra special everybody will be allowed in at the discount price of 7 euro. Show begins at 8pm.

As well as a storyteller, Rab is an author and essayist. His recent work includes a series of essays called ‘Social Justice and Scottish Independence’ which can be read at: http://rabfultonstories.weebly.com/blog/2 The essays are packed with information and insights into the events leading up to the referendum.

‘I believe independence carries the best possibility of promoting social justice, tolerance and equality in Scotland’ explains Rab. ‘An independent Scotland would set an example across these islands , whether you live in Cork or Manchester, Cardiff or Dundee.’

Everybody is welcome to the celebration, Scots and non-Scots, Yes voters and No voters alike. For more on Celtic Tales see: https://www.facebook.com/celtictalesrabfulton Follow Rab on twitter at https://twitter.com/haveringrab

Here's rab telling a Scottish story at one of the Celtic Tales sessions

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part twelve.

8/13/2014

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12. New Labour. New realities.

Labour had won a landslide election, yet instead of dismantling the legacy of Thatcher, the new labour government chose to attempt the impossible: creating a more progressive society whilst maintaining the very worst aspects of Tory rule. The Scottish parliament would not be allowed to continue to pass legislation that could embarrass or undermine the New Thatcherism of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Already riven by personal, regional and sectarian divisions Scottish Labour was now divided between those elected to the Scottish parliament and those elected to the UK Parliament. The result was that Scottish Labour was convulsed by infighting and power struggles and allegations of scandal and corruption as the Labour government in the UK sought to gut Scottish Labour of any lingering commitment to progressive politics. With social justice on the retreat, the divisions in Scottish labour came to the fore, to the humiliation of all Scots.

In 2001 the premier of Ireland and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern visited Scotland. This was a golden opportunity for the new Scottish parliament to show itself on the international stage. Bertie Ahern’s itinerary included unveiling a famine memorial at Carfin in Lanarkshire, where so many 19th century Irish migrants settled. What should have been a quiet and reflective ceremony however became an ugly display of Labour Party sectarianism and divisions.

Frank Roy the Labour MP for Motherwell had not been invited to the ceremony, whilst local Members of the Scottish Parliament had. Frank wrote to the Irish Consul in Scotland declaring that as the ceremony was occurring during the same weekend as a Celtic and Rangers match it could became a focus for sectarian violence. What role other Labour MPs and MSPs played is still to be fully worked out but it would appear that some members of the Labour executive who controlled the Scottish Assembly threatened to boycott the ceremony should it go ahead.

Implicated in the boycott was Jack McConnell, former general secretary of Scottish Labour and a rapidly rising member of the Scottish executive. Two Scottish members of the British cabinet were also implicated, Secretary of State John Reid and Scottish Secretary Helen Liddle. With threats of violence and boycott the ceremony was cancelled. It was a shameful day for Scotland. The SNP demanded an apology from Tony Blair but this was refused.

In the same year Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish resigned after an expense scandal. The new First Minister of Scotland was Jack McConnell. Jack’s tenure was marked by his attacks on Quebec, continued infighting in Labour, and Scottish Labour’s defence of the Iraq War.

In the heated 2003 debates about Iraq, Labour and Tory MSPs united to defeat a motion calling for further weapons inspections and a proper UN mandate. In the aftermath left-wing Labour MSP John McAllion resigned from his party and became a member of the Scottish Socialist Party. In the following years, infighting and factionalism in Scottish Labour continued to be played out before a local and international audience, further reducing respect for the Scotland’s assembly. At the same time Scots in the UK cabinet came to be seen as the bully boys and enforcers of the Blair Brown project: the preatorian guards of New Thatcherism. (Though there were honourable exceptions, notably Robin Cook resigned from cabinet in protest at the Iraq war.)

While Labour carries the overwhelming responsibility for the reduced state of Scotland’s parliament, the SNP is not without criticism. As the official opposition in the parliament it remained harnessed to a fundamentalist independence or nothing ideology. Rather than providing a responsible critique of the Labour / Lib Dem executive, it seemed at times to revel in the disarray that Labour had inflicted on Scotland’s parliament and reputation. The SNP was torn between acting like a government in waiting and playing the role of the joker in the pack.

To many Scots the Scottish parliament came to be seen as nothing more than a gilded box that was utterly empty of content. In the elections of 2003, voter turnout collapsed.

Now read. 'Part Thirteen: Reasons to be cheerful'

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *
There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part Eleven

8/13/2014

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11. War, Wealth & Power

In the twenty years between the 1979 referendum and the Scottish Assembly election in 1999 the Labour party had to overcome many obstacles in order to retain its pre-eminence in Scotland. During the Decade of Dissent, coercion, corruption, propaganda and a compliant media helped the Labour Party face down threats from grass roots Social Justice Campaigners and an emboldened SNP. Yet in all the heat and hustle of power politics Labour failed to recognise that its most dangerous enemy was the very political machine it had created in order to maintain power. Social Justice Campaigners and the SNP played a part in Labour’s eventual fall from power, but more than anything it was Labour that mortally damaged itself.

Previous Labour governments had attempted, initially with some success, to harness two ideological opposites: the creation of a progressive society based on equality and tolerance; and the pursuit of a super power status that relied on the costly (and corrosive) old Imperial mainstay of overwhelming military power.

Scotland was central to this project. The UKs nuclear arsenal was stored in Scotland; much of the UK’s oil wealth was located in the waters around Scotland. UK government’s (both Labour and Tory) were – and remain – adamant that nuclear weapons stay in Scotland and that oil wealth be controlled from London. Historically the issue of oil and bombs has caused considerable friction between Scots and the UK parliament. However, that friction was softened by the not inconsiderable progressive policies that Labour governments passed.

With the election victory of 1997, Scotland’s importance to the UKs wealth and military status was reflected in Tony Blair’s cabinet. George Robinson was Defence Secretary from 1997 to 1999. He then went on to become Secretary General of NATO from 1999 to 2004. Another Scottish MP Adam Ingram was Minister for the Armed Forces from 2001 to 2007. In charge of the UKs wealth, much of it dependent on the oil around Scotland, was Scottish Labour MP Gordon Brown who was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007. In 2007 he became the new British prime minister.

Scottish Labour was at the heart of the UKs wealth and war capabilities. The early legislation of the new Scottish parliament suggested that Scottish Labour would be also central to the creation of progressive policies. Yet having won a UK election on the promise of devolution, then campaigned for a Yes vote in the referendum, Labour in Scotland was badly divided about the new Scottish parliament. Many of Labour’s leading Scottish members remained utterly opposed to any form of home rule. Others, such as George Robinson, only accepted it as a way of killing nationalism ‘stone dead’.

Following the death of Donald Dewar, the new Labour First Minister of Scotland, Henry McLeish, appeared committed to creating a parliament in Scotland that would pass progressive laws as well as listen to proposals from the opposition (the ending of warrant sales and the introduction of free meals were Scottish Socialist Party initiatives). However, while the UK government needed Scotland for wealth and weapons, it did not welcome the passing of progressive laws in Scotland.

It soon became clear that it was not only nationalism that New Labour sought to destroy. Legislation based on Social Justice was seen as equally dangerous and undesirable.

Now read: Part Twelve. New Labour. New realities.

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *
There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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The folly & danger of the currency debate in Scotland

8/9/2014

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The future of the pound in an independent Scotland has produced a great deal of sound and fury. With reasons for voting No collapsing one by one, the status of the pound has become the rallying cry of No campaigners. And yet it is an argument that, whilst producing great noise and great fear, is utterly meaningless. What is forgotten, or deliberately overlooked in the current debate is that the UK has been through the experience of a shared currency before - with the newly independent Irish state.

Though the Irish Free State introduced an ‘Irish’ monetary system in 1928, Ireland in fact maintained a de facto currency union with the pound up to the 1970s. When Britain decimalised its currency in 1971, Ireland did so. Moreover, the British pound was freely used in Ireland. Insurrection, civil war, the civil rights movement and the brutal early years of the troubles had no effect on this relationship. The link between punt and pound was only broken when Ireland joined the European Monetary System in 1978.

Sharing a common currency with had little impact on the choices made by the political leaders of the respective states. Ironically enough, now that the two nations have separate monetary systems they have moved closer together in terms of politics and economy. There are of course superficial differences. Ireland’s elite remains wedded to clientism and the Church; the UK’s elite to dreams of empire. Yet in both states the political class actively pursue a policy of redistributing wealth from the poor to the powerful, a parasitical form of economics also known as ‘austerity’ or ‘socialism in reverse’.

If the Irish experience shows the utter pointless of the currency debate in Scotland, there is another aspect of Ireland’s relationship with the United Kingdom that has great and terrible relevance. Partition of Ireland allowed for the creation of elites in both jurisdictions of Ireland that used, and continue to use, religion as a prop and a weapon to curtail social justice and dissent. Yet partition was never an inevitable outcome. Unionism in Ireland succeeded in creating partition because it was supported by and supportive of a powerful section of Westminster’s political elite. In the struggles between Liberals and Conservatives, Ireland became a weapon that each could use against the other. The needs of the people in Ireland – unionist and nationalist – became secondary to the realpolitik of the British Empire.

While an Irish type partition is unlikely in Scotland, there does remain a very real danger that the needs of Scotland and the people of Scotland will become subsumed by bigger power struggles in Westminster. In the bigger Imperial game, London’s political elite – whether Labour, Tory, UKIP or Lib Dem - are adamant that the UKs nuclear weapon will remain in Scotland and that Scotland’s natural resources will be controlled by London. In order to keep this ugly status quo Westminster will do whatever it can to retain a presence and influence in Scotland that will, like partition in Ireland, bolster the forces of reaction and undermine the cause of social justice.

Understanding this, Scots have to ask two questions that really do matter, two questions that go to the very heart of democracy and social justice in Scotland and the other nations of these islands. The questions are:

If Scotland votes Yes to Independence will Labour support Scotland’s right to use its natural resources to fund schools, health, education and equality?

If Scotland votes Yes to Independence will Labour support Scotland’s right to remove nuclear weapons from its soil and use the money saved to fund schools, health, education and equality?

In the little time remaining before the referendum, these are questions that must be constantly and without pause put to Alistair Darling, Johann Lamont and Anas Sarwar. Allowing the debate to remain focused on the currency debate chimera is not only idiotic but dangerously obscures the very real threats to Scotland’s future democratic development.

For more on Scotland's Independence debate, read my Social Justice & Scottish Independence articles.

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For on my published books and articles see: Rab’s Books

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There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part ten

8/4/2014

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10. The Scottish Constitutional Convention

The Scottish media produced scarce, if any, analysis of what motivated the grass roots campaigns in the 1990’s. The omnipotence of Labour in Scotland meant access to stories covering a range of subjects - business, cultural, social and political – had to be mediated through Labour controlled bodies. More importantly, the Tory government posed a real threat to the independence of journalists. In 1987, BBC Scotland had been raided by police and journalist Duncan Campbell’s door kicked in by special branch after Campbell had produced a documentary on the Zircon spy satellite project. As a result the Labour party in Scotland, like the monarchy in the UK, was treated as an institution that, occasional eccentricities and bad moment’s aside, was in the main a benign, unifying and positive force.

However, the culture of the Labour local political machines could not remain ignored forever. It had long been common knowledge that Labour not only used sectarianism to control working class areas, but that sectarian groups vied for power within the Labour party. In 1994 allegations of sectarianism and nepotism almost lost Labour the by-election that was being held after the death of John Smith. Labour was quick to treat the Monklands scandal as a one off aberration, with Jack O’Connell the then general secretary of Scottish Labour promising ‘we must never allow this situation to develop in the Scottish Labour Party ever again.’

However, sectarianism, corruption and nepotism continued unabated, and continue to this day. The Labour party though is a robust organisation. Despite the growing allegations of corruption and the storm of Social Justice Campaigns battering against the door of Keir Hardie House, Labour ended the 1990s seemingly stronger than it had ever been. Following the Govan be-election defeat of 1988, Labour helped set up the Scottish Constitutional Convention to examine how Scotland should be governed. The Convention also included the Liberal Democrats, trade unions and other civic and religious bodies. It was a tangible and respected example of Labour being seen to listen to the concerns of the people of Scotland. Its credibility was boosted by the Conservative Party’s refusal to participate. The discussions within the Convention would later form the basis of the devolved government in Scotland. Yet even the Convention was not free of Labour machinations.

There were two fundamental problems with the Convention, Firstly, the Constitutional Convention was portrayed as a progressive movement, yet not one member ever took the time to talk to the communities and activists that were then struggling to defend and promote social justice in Scotland. This is not surprising as those struggles were mostly taking place in the Labour heartlands.

Secondly, the Convention was said to be an open and neutral body that sought to examine future possibilities for governing Scotland. However, it refused to include Independence amongst options to be examined, even though the drive for Independence had played such a huge role in Scotland’s civic development since the late 1960s. Indeed a 1991 opinion poll found independence to have more support than devolution, 37 % versus 33 %.The SNP walked away from the Convention. The Green party would eventually walk away too.

The Labour party turned the nationalists’ non participation into another powerful propaganda tool. Not only had the nationalists brought in a Tory government but now they were refusing to work with other progressive groups in Scotland. Rather than an unaligned civic forum the Convention began to emit the whiff of good old fashioned political carve ups and wheeling and dealing between the Lib Dems and the Labour Party. In 1995 the Scottish Constitutional Convention published its proposals. These would form the basis of the future Scottish Assembly.

In the 1997 general election the Tories were routed in Scotland, being left with no seats at all. The SNP and Lib Dems increased their representation but the greatest victory went to the Labour Party who gained 56 of Scotland’s 72 MPs. Making good on its election promise the new UK government held a referendum in September asking Scots if they wanted an assembly with limited tax raising powers. Following a massive yes vote the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999.

Yet even this momentous achievement was sullied by Labour duplicity. The Labour MP, Denis Canavan, announced his intention to retire as an MP and stand for the Falkirk West in Scottish election in 1999. The Labour Party refused to select him as a candidate though he was supported by the overwhelming majority of his local labour branch. He stood as an Independent candidate. In response the Labour Party expelled one it’s most gifted and talented politicians. Denis won the seat in 1999 and 2003 before retiring in 2007.

The treatment of Denis Canavan was a clear signal that the Scottish parliament would not be an autonomous body in which the Labour party participated; rather it would first and foremost serve the needs of the Labour Party in Scotland, which in turn took its orders from the UK leadership.

That leadership was determined to keep an eye on Scotland and in particular any future threat of a nationalist revival. As reported by newsnetscotland, on the eve of the opening of the new parliament the Labour government secretly reclassified 6000 square miles of Scottish sea - and thus the oil and gas fields in them - as being English.

In the Scottish elections of 1999 and 2003 Labour was the biggest winner and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Under the Labour and Lib Dem goverment Tution Fees were abolished, as were Poindings and Warrant Sales; child poverty was tackled and free meals introduced into Scottish schools. In the heady early days of the new Scottish parliament it seemed as if the cause of Social Justice, the legacy of the ILP, had been reignited in Scottish Labour. However, Scottish Labour soon found itself confronting its most implacable enemy and the momentum for change ground to a bitter halt

Now read: Part Eleven. War, Wealth & Power

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *
There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part nine.

8/4/2014

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9. Not a Nationalist Revolt

In the Decade of Dissent, Scotland was shaken by grass root campaigns in the north, south, east and west of the nation; in cities, towns, and countryside. There were campaigns against school closures, housing stock corruption, poll tax enforcement, new motorways, nuclear weapons and much more. Inevitably, given Labour’s dominance in Scotland much of this campaigning took place in Labour heartlands. With every arrest, strip search or court appearance of social justice activists, Labour was increasingly seen as part of Scotland’s democratic problem.

Dissenters in Scotland were loud, colourful and utterly disrespectful as much as too each other as to Scotland’s elite. A lot of this glitter and noise came from environmentalists and anarchists who played a large, if still unsung part, in Scotland’s raucous journey to home rule. Environmentalists introduced to Scotland new tactics in non-violent direct action, notably the lock on which was to be used to great effect in many grass roots campaigns and in anti-nuclear protests.

Anarchists brought their years of experience in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in Scotland, through social welfare advice clinics, naming and shaming abusive social welfare officers, anti-racism actions and creating autonomous centres in occupied buildings. Anarchist and environmentalist forms of resistance and organisation had a huge impact on those of us who came from a traditional socialist (whether Labour or SNP) way of thinking and campaigning.

Feminists and gay activists had long campaigned against the exclusively and abusively hetro male dominated culture and politics in Scotland. As well as bringing in their own activists and networks, feminists and gay activists also provided a well needed critique of other campaigners, including socialists, anarchists and environmentalists.

Whether in protest camps, community halls or Autonomy Centres in occupied buildings there was plenty of music from the likes of Oi Polloi, Block o Vomit, Cora Bissett and countless other Scottish and UK bands. Other art forms included dance, art, sculpture, stand-up comedy, poetry and prose in English, Scots and Gaelic. Some of the most beautiful and powerful poetry, prose and plays came from the Edinburgh writer Sandie Craigie, who as well as being an activist and mother was Assistant Editor of Rebel Inc. magazine set up in 1992 by Kevin Williamson. Publications like Justice/Cothrom which I helped edit for the Glasgow Anarchist Federation mixed comedy, scurrilous character assassinations and politics to create links and support for campaigns across Scotland.

There were other more mainstream groups whose members also played a part in those years. Scottish CND provided vital support and logistics for the activists at Faslane Peace Camp; whilst members of Strathclyde Elderly Forum brought years of experience they had in quietly lobbying the political elites on behalf of Scotland’s elder community, they also had considerable knowledge, ideas and history to share. Many also involved themselves in campaigns and protests against the road building schemes in Glasgow, to the confusion of police who found themselves having to arrest granny.

It would be an injustice to all these people to use hindsight to impose a unitary political philosophy on the campaigns of the 1990s. The campaigns were blessed with fulsome discussion and debate, some of which evolved into the creation of different political groupings whilst the others transformed into community groups which fostered local pride and skills. But a common understanding did evolve that was eventually shared by nearly all Scottish activists: Whilst much of the economic and social troubles besetting Scotland had their origin in a right wing London government, they had been exacerbated by the actions of the political elite in Scotland.

But the Decade of Dissent was not a nationalist revolt. For one thing, Scotland’s grass roots activists and supporters were inspired and emboldened by the environmentalist campaigns in England and eagerly invited them into their communities. English dissidents (as well as French, American, German, etc.) taught Scots dissidents the skills needed to defy Labour power. But skills were not enough. Local knowledge was provided by women and men who had been supporters or members of the Labour Party all their lives. They knew the weaknesses and strengths of the machine confronting activists. As the campaigning went on, most but not all of these people would leave the labour party, some joining the SNP, while many more became the backbone of the emerging Scottish Socialist Party.

While the SNP leadership remained divided and confused about what was happening in Scotland, many nationalist activists and supporters had no such qualms. They campaigned, they protested and they took part in actions. As SNP activists were reintroducing Social Justice in the nationalist movement, so Labour party activists were carrying the flame of the ILP into the Scottish Socialist Party. (It should be noted, however, that some activists remained in the Labour party to try keep the embers of social justice burning there. Indeed following the 1999 Scottish Assembly election it seemed for a moment as if Scottish Labour's radical traditions were about to enjoy a renaissance).

As the decade rolled on it became ever more obvious that blaming English Tories was not only pointless and racist but entirely missed the point. Scotland’s problems were a product of a corrupt and arrogant Scottish political culture. Responsibility for our problems lay in Scotland not in Westminster. Equally the solution to our problems lay in Scotland regardless of who was in power in London. In effect dissidents in Scotland lived and acted as if they were already in an independent country.

However, acting and living in such away raised its own questions. These questions remain as relevant today as in the nineties and arguably are the most important legacy of the Decade of Dissent. In summary the questions are: What form of governance should Scotland have? Would any Scottish parliament be better at protecting basic rights than a UK one? Does the very nature of parliaments (regardless of whether they be left wing, right wing, democratically elected or not) demand that there be elites and there be losers?

Now read Part Ten: The Scottish Constitutional Convention

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *
There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part eight.

8/4/2014

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8. People Power

As momentum against the poll tax grew, so did resistance to other attacks on the lives and wellbeing of men, women and children in Scotland and the UK. The Tory government continued its attack on welfare rights and freedom of expression, notably through the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, which sought to criminalize music which was wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats and created a crime of aggravated trespass which targeted nonviolent protest.

These were not only petty and vindictive laws, but as stupid as they were anti-democratic and were massively opposed throughout Scotland and the UK, with local grass roots campaigns sprouting up like magic mushrooms on a warm rainy autumn day. However, if the Criminal Justice Act was seen by many as one more example of the illegitimacy of Tory Rule in Scotland, others saw things differently. For Scotland’s Labour controlled councils, the criminal justice act was to become an important part of the legal armoury that would be used against the growing number of protests.

In Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, the Labour controlled council had turned its attentions to the green spaces of city. The parks of Glasgow had long been seen as the gardens of the people. As well as providing space for socializing and relaxing, they were also a vital breathing space for people living in crowded or inadequate housing. In addition they provided vital green corridors for the wildlife in Glasgow. Like the Soviet Politburo with its Five Year Plans, Labour councillors declared the green spaces unviable and uneconomic. Plans were drawn up. Plans that included casinos, hotels and motorways. Dissent would not be tolerated.

To the Labour councillors in Glasgow City Chambers, Pollok might as well have been as distant and inaccessible as the moon. Located on the south west of Glasgow It was a place of bleak statistics – low income, poor housing, ill health -, whose residents were expected to simply vote labour and be grateful for whatever hand outs they got from city hall. However statistics can obscure other truths. Many people in Pollok had a long history of campaigning for better conditions. They also prided themselves on living beside one of the biggest and most beautiful parks in Scotland, Pollok Country Park.

It was through this park that Labour councillors decided to build a massive motorway, the M77, a motorway which would block residents’ access to Pollok. This was part of a bigger plan which included the extension of the M74, which would impact on the lives of people in Rutherglen and Govanhill. It was an undertaking which defied logic – Glasgow already had an incredibly efficient public transport system including trains, busses and a subway – and could only worsen the lives of those living in some of Glasgow’s poorest areas.

In Pollok, locals began to organise and lobby and speak out. One of them Colin Macleod climbed up a tree to highlight the threat to Pollok Park by the proposed M77 motorway. It was a very simple and brave act. The repercussions of which are felt in Scotland to this day. Local residents set up support networks for the tree campaign, supplying food, material, publicity and information on the activities of police, security guards and the wheeling and dealings of Labour councillors. Through a combination of their own efforts and the networks of local activists, including Labour, Scottish Militant, nationalists, environmentalists and anarchist, the people of Pollok reached out to the rest of Glasgow, Scotland, the UK and eventually the world.

One of the problems of describing what happened next was that suddenly there was so much going on. Scotland had already experienced intense campaigning and protests in the early 1990s. From the mid-1990s the fun and the fury was massively amplified. With the setting up of the Pollok Free State, Scotland found itself with two protest camps, the other being the anti-nuclear Faslane Peace Camp outside the Trident submarine base. The residents of both camps used non-violent direct action as part of their defiance, but equally important was the quieter work, education days, clean up days, and the constant welcoming and chatting to visitors.

One of my favourite memories is of meeting the children in Pollok who led a mass walked out of their school in support of the Pollok Free State. I met them in the Pollok Free State and we chatted about schools, stories, the park and my work as a writer. The children were funny, curious and very astute. When some of them were later challenged by reporters that all they were doing was skipping school, one of the children explained that in fact they were still going to classes only classes being held in the camp and not in school. My chat with them was transformed into a creative writing class! Actually there was a pretty formidable education programme in Pollok Free State, much of it based around the pride of relearning traditional skills.

The big headline legacy of the anti M77 campaign was that the Scottish Labour Party’s mantle as the paramount party of the working class and social justice was broken for ever. However, as with all the campaigns in Scotland at the time, there were other legacies, equally if not more important. The education work that began during the heady days of Pollok Free State would continue through the work of the Galgael, which continues to give meaning and hope to people suffering worklessness, depression or addiction.

The M77 was built, as was the M74. The trident missiles were stockpiled and the nuclear submarines went on patrol. These were not the only defeats suffered by activists, campaigns and communities. There many such defeats as well as victories. However, the accumulative effect of every campaign - big or small, successful or not, - was this: by their actions the men, women and children opened up new political, social and cultural spaces, spaces free of Tory cruelty and Labour deceit. Anything and everything seemed possible.

Now read Part Nine: Not a nationalist Revolt

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *

There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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Social Justice & Scottish Independence. Part Seven

8/4/2014

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7. Things begin to heat up

In 1989 local and international events impacted on Scotland’s cosy and corrupt political world. In the German Democratic Republic, dissident protests intensified after the China’s communist party’s massacre of protesters in June. With the opening up of Hungary and Poland, mass demonstrations took place in the GDR which led to police assaults, riots and thousands of arrests. In the end the rulers of the GDR chose not to use the Chinese solution. People power and mass mobilisation had toppled a communist regime and inspired social justice and human rights campaigners around the world. In the same year, and with no sense of irony, Margaret Thatcher began to test out the Poll Tax in Scotland - a year before it was to be imposed in the rest of the UK. Of the then seventy two MPs then representing Scotland in the UK parliament, only ten were Conservatives.

In Scotland, the SNP’s Jim Sillars had made non-payment of the Poll Tax a central plank of his by-election victory in late 1988. Many labour councillors were also initially vocal in their opposition to the Poll Tax. A mass movement aligned to the wider UK Anti-poll Tax Federation organised demonstrations and protest across Scotland leading to a massive and effective campaign of non-payment. Yet Scotland’s political establishment quickly resorted back to its usual default mode. The SNP leadership huffed and puffed and eventually came out with a half arsed aye, naw, mibbe, if only we wur independent blah blah blah response. Fuelled by its own fear and hatred of dissent, the Labour Party machine’s response was far worse: those who would not pay would be forced to pay, even if that meant breaking into people’s homes, removing their goods and selling them at auction.

These poindings were not particularly cost effective, but that was not their primary function. The function of a poinding was to publicly shame an individual and spread fear to other non-payers. Inevitably attempted poindings were met with mass resistance and most were abandoned. Tommy Sheridan’s leadership in the campaign led to his being arrested and jailed. In response, Glaswegians elected him a Glasgow councillor. As the hatred and resistance to the Poll Tax increased, Labour party councils became more reluctant to confront dissidents. Some poindings did succeed. But only temporarily. One of the scariest moments for me during that time was when I helped liberate goods from an auction house whilst on bail for campaigning against the M77 motorway.

Another issue facing Scots in the 1990s was the new trident nuclear warheads being stockpiled in Scotland. Contempt for human rights and dignity is monstrously amplified by the stockpiling of nuclear weapons. The history of the fifty years from the end of the Second World War to the mid-1990s showed one thing above all others: having a nuclear arsenal gave a nation the freedom to use massive conventional violence without fear of sanction or intervention. This violence could be used directly by the nuclear nations or through client regimes. But the lynchpin to the tens of million murders and maimings of the second half of the twentieth century were those massive nuclear weapon stock piles. Since the 1960s, the United Kingdom’s nuclear submarine fleet and its stockpile of weapons had been stored in Scotland. In 1994 the new Trident system replaced the older Polaris weapons. As convoys of the new nuclear warheads travelled through Scotland they were met by protests and blockades that grew bigger as the decade went on.

But before examining the 1990s in detail, it is well to remember that state power impacted, and continues to impact, on people’s lives in ways that refuse to be fitted into a Scots government versus UK government dichotomy. Away from the big street protests, blockades, and occupations, there were other events in Scotland that showed with terrible and awful clarity that issues of tolerance and social justice were not just a vague political abstraction: they were in fact matters of life and death. The death of Shkander Singh in Stewart Street police station in 1994 suggested a deep rooted and violent racism was embedded in Scotland’s police service. Equally, the suicides in Corton Vale prison pointed to a contempt and hatred of vulnerable women in Scotland’s prison service. These deaths and the issues raised by them were felt across Scotland – though it is arguable that no adequate response has yet been made by the state insitutions – and across political lines. One of the most moving responses to the Courton Vale deaths was the speech by John McFall, Labour MP for Dumbarton.

Now read Part Eight: People Power

All these blogs can be read from beginning at: Social Justice & Scottish Independence

Follow me on twitter

For on my published books see: Rab’s Books

* * *

There’s a wheen o Yes campaigns and campaigners out there on twitter. But you might want to check out these to start with

@NewsnetScotland @bellacaledonia @WeAreNational
@Radical_Indy

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