Politics - the Labour leadership contest and Scottish independence

-
So, at least two Labour leadership contenders (Phillips and Nandy) have come out against allowing IndyRef2 - and just yesterday, on the Andrew Marr programme, Ian Murray stated that he agreed with them 100%. All three stated that the way to beat nationalism was to elect a radical, left wing, Labour government to Westminster. Two points to make on that view.
Firstly, the N in SNP stands for NATIONAL - not NATIONALIST. There is a difference. Nationalist movements are, on the whole, ring wing and racist (promoting the rights of the indigenous population at the expense of incomers). Neither label can be applied to the SNP (although there are those seeking Scottish independence who hold such views - but they are a minority and the SNP quickly shut them up when they expound on such views). The SNP seek to remain, or rejoin, the EU and actively seeks people from anywhere in the world to move to Scotland. The SNP hopes for a left of centre Scottish government which will forever reject the right wing Tory policies too often coming out of Westminster. The SNP seek to take ownership of all of Scotland's problems so that, with full fiscal control, the country can start to address these. None of the above fit the label that Phillips, Nandy, Murray and all unionists try to pin on the SNP and the struggle for Scottish independence. The SNP is not a nationalist movement but, instead, a movement which seeks to see a fairer, socially just Scotland (which seems most unlikely while a part of the UK - and the recent general election only confirms that last point).
The second point is that electing a properly left wing, Labour government to Westminster does not look at all likely - and if that was to happen it is unlikely that they would stay in power long enough to bring about the changes to how the UK operates such that a Scottish government would be sufficiently empowered to fully deal with all those problems. The Labour Party has, time and time again, promised radical changes - and totally failed to deliver (apart from, that is, the Labour government which created the NHS and other major social changes). There is no guarantee that an independent Scottish government would fix all those problems - but it would stand a far better chance of doing so when freed of the constraints applied by Westminster.
So, for those in Scotland the choice is clear: Stick with, or revert to, the Labour party and see nothing change for the better, or support the drive for Scottish independence - which at least offers real hope for the changes most of us in Scotland want to see. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - Ulva update

-
Just a few days after I published my post on Ulva and Gometra I saw a BBC TV programme (Designing The Hebrides) about the renovation of an old bothy on the south coast of Ulva. My post said that there were no buildings on the south coast of Ulva - or any paths in that direction. This, clearly, was not the case - but, in my defence, none of the articles I’d read, prior to my visit to Ulva, mentioned this bothy even existed. Having said that, I need to hold my hand up to failing to examine my maps more carefully and at a magnification level which will clearly show such features. Near the start of this programme there was a map which indicated the location of this bothy so I was able to use the map apps on my phone to focus on only this area. My Google Maps indicated nothing - and at first my free version of OS maps also indicated nothing - but, still on my OS phone map, I zoomed in on the area and there indeed was a small building shown (a small rectangle). I then used the map applicatio
Read more

Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - Shona

-
Image
Eilean Shona, or just Shona, is a tidal island at the mouth of Loch Moidart, which is just north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula and about twenty five miles south of Mallaig. I’ve read that it’s about two miles long and one and a half wide - but if so then I suspect that relates to the larger section alone as the whole island looks to be about twice as long as it is wide. It almost fills the mouth of Loch Moidart with the main entrance to the loch, to the south, being less wide than the island itself. Shona is almost split into two with Shona Mhór to the west and the smaller part, Shona Beag, to the east. (Note that I’m not sure if the name Shona Mhór actually exists as it’s usually just Shona and Shona Beag that’s indicated - but I’ve decided to call the larger part of the island Shona Mhór just to make it clear which part I’m referring to). The island is joined to the mainland via a causeway to Shona Beag, which does not appear to offer a great amount for the visitor with only one trac
Read more

Inhabited west coast Scottish islands - Ulva and Gometra

-
Image
Ulva and Gometra are, most usually, described as lying off the west coast of Mull. I would argue that this is not totally true. As pointed out in my post about Mull, that island is so indented that it is not easy to find bits of it’s convoluted coast that line up with any of the four cardinal points of the compass - and that applies to the location of Ulva and Gometra. These two Islands are located in what I would call the northern side of Outer Loch na Keel (with Loch na Keel being a small section at the head of the loch). If, however, a line is drawn between Rudha nan Cearc (at the north western tip of the Ross Of Mull) and Rudh a Chaoil (at the western tip of the area known as Treshnish) then that line will run pretty much north to south - so the entrance to Loch na Keel does, I accept, look westward, but that is not the same as claiming that the coast contained within Outer Loch na Keel faces westward: some sections do - but some other sections face north and some face south and ju
Read more