All out for Yes: , Isobel Lindsay, MSP Jean Urquhart, Alan Bissett and more in this issue • See inside FREE • issue 444 • 5th–18th September 2014 scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com

‘On 18 September, power will lie in the hands of the Scottish people. You have to decide whether to keep it or give it away...’ – Jim Sillars

For a Scotland that puts people before profit – vote ScottishSocialistVoice.wordpress.com /ScottishSocialistVoice @ssv_voice VOTE YES by Alan Bissett HERE WE are going into the LabourLabour votersvoters last fortnight of the long campaign for Scottish independence and things are now very exciting indeed. movingmoving toto YesYes The latest poll, from the No- friendly YouGov, places Yes at 47 per cent and No at 53 per cent, a massive swing of 8 per cent from their last poll, making victory for Yes very much possible. Even Better Together cheerleaders the Daily Mail are describing the result of as being ‘on a knife edge’. During the last TV debate with , an under- pressure Alistair Darling “MY FRIDGE MAGNETS TOLD ME admitted that ‘of course TO VOTE ‘NO’”: the new face of Scotland could use the pound’, Better Together, aka ‘Patronising BT Lady’, has heralded in a putting to rest a central BT Lady’, has heralded in a disastrous time for the No camp falsehood of the No campaign. Better Together’s advert some supporters have been appear toxic and off-putting to the right. The same recent targeting the female vote – in lashing out – literally – with the public. Even the police are YouGov poll has seen support which a woman, filmed in the reports emerging of physical recognising this tactic. for independence by 12 kitchen, claims not to care violence against Yes activists. Yes, instead of trying to fight per cent among Labour voters about politics and fails to These have been largely dirty, has been quietly building in the last month, as the left- remember the First Minister’s ignored by the media, who up the largest mass movement wing tone of the Yes movement name – alienated Yes, No and prefer to magnify complaints in Scotland’s history. becomes clearer by the day. Undecided women alike for its from Labour’s Jim Murphy Aware that the potential for Ideas which have been off the patronising tone. about being hit by an egg. change lies within the Scottish political agenda for generations Murphy’s ludicrous talk of working-class, who have been – nuclear disarmament, the Violence ignored ‘co-ordinated attack mobs’ and long-alienated from by right-wing nationalisation of industry, anti- It is a measure of how Better the No campaign’s predictions UK governments, the Radical privatisation, wealth Together have been depending of ‘absolute carnage’ on Independence Campaign have redistribution and social housing upon political apathy that Scottish streets have meant a been out encouraging people – are now on everyone’s lips, they’re now using meaningless public rebuke from the Scottish on housing schemes and in job and it is increasingly obvious to platitudes such as, ‘I love Police Federation for centres queues to register. voters which result is most likely Scotland, I’m voting No’ and ‘I ‘intemperate, inflammatory and Groups like the Scottish to deliver these. love my kids, I’m voting No’. exaggerated language’. Socialist Party and Labour For But the No campaign has Now that all of their Independence, whose values Political awakening also taken a rather sinister arguments have been dispelled, have remained intact, have been Labour, meanwhile, are turn. Aware that the UK might Better Together are now simply successful at targeting those spending their energies fighting be slipping from their grasp, trying to make the whole debate disaffected by Labour’s drift to against the largest political awakening of working-class To subscribe to the Scottish Socialist Voice – newspaper of the – fill in this form people that Scotland has ever and send it to: Scottish Socialist Voice, Suite 370, 4th Floor, Central Chambers, 93 Hope Street, Glasgow known, on behalf of our rulers. G2 6LD. Or telephone: 07810205747. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to ‘Scottish The media and No voters like Socialist Voice’. Find us online at scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com and on Facebook and Twitter to moan about how ‘divided’ the Name...... country has become – as Address...... though politics never is – but the ...... Yes movement has seen a mass of diverse peoples ...... working together for the first Phone...... time with a huge amount of Email...... bonhomie and determination. I enclose: g £5 for 2 issues g £10 for 4 issues g £20 for 8 issues It is proof of what can happen when the left unites: we can win. 2 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • issue 444 VOTE YES WHY I’M VOTING Which side FOR INDEPENDENCE are you on? by Ken Ferguson, editor, Scottish Socialist Voice

AFTER THE long campaign, the scares, the experts and the claim and counter claim as 18 September approaches, the question is increasingly clear and increasingly simple. Which side are you on? The Tories were rejected by Scottish voters an age ago as the people who brought the long years of Thatcher’s on working people with it closures, sackings and the detested Poll Tax. The Lib Dems, once the mister nice guys of Scottish politics, sold their souls for a few crumbs from the Westminster Tory government and are reaping the whirlwind of rejection from disgusted voters. The more this gruesome pair tell scare stories about a Yes vote the more the independence vote grows. YES FOR SUCCESS: Colin Fox speaks at a huge pro-indy rally in Edinburgh PHOTO: Craig Maclean In bed with the Tories by Colin Fox, SSP ments we choose and the Democracy and serving However the most shameful role in the co-spokesperson policies we support instead the needs of all citizens will anti-Yes campaign has been that of the party of suffering those we did not. always trump the interests once the natural home of progressive voter VOTING YES on 18 Think about it, after 18 of ‘the moneymen’ in the favouring justice and peace—Labour. September unlocks a door September there will be no new nation I envisage. Trashing their honourable past they have to previously unreachable more David Camerons in The Yes vote I will cast spent the campaign in bed with the Tories possibilities for working Scotland, no more Tory will therefore be for a mod- against the interests of their loyal voters. class people in Scotland. It governments we did not ern, democratic nation that In the Tory funded Labour fronted Better frees us from the economic elect, no more Bedroom will, I believe, chose to be- Together alliance they have sung the same neoliberalism of the City of Tax we did not vote for, no come a republic where we tune as parties detested by Scots voters with London that puts the greedy more Poll Tax we did not elect our Head of State. a mixture off fear and threats in desperate pursuit of profit for a tiny vote for either, no more Tri- And we elect someone rep- drive to maintain the cosy Westminster world elite ahead of satisfying the dent nuclear weapons sta- resentative of the population in which they enjoy a life insulated from the primary needs of millions. tioned on our soil, no more as a whole and who is ac- world of insecurity and deprivation facing Independence means we immigrants and claimants countable for the decisions thousands of those who elect them. can rid Scotland of the blamed for an economic cri- they take on our behalf. child poverty, fuel poverty, sis caused by the bankers... So I’m voting Yes on 18 Labour voters decisive food banks, low wage those days are over! September and I have never It is the decision of those Labour voters economy and the worst In an independent social- been more confident of vic- which will be decisive on 18 September—will anti-union laws in the ist Scotland no one is left tory than I am today. they back a Yes vote and take the power to whole of Europe. behind to live in poverty As I travel round Scotland defend the NHS, create real well paid jobs, It also frees us from the and squalor, forgotten by I see evidence everywhere scrap Trident and back a people before profit warmongering straitjacket the complacent and all too of the staggering achieve- Scotland, or the pretend socialists currently imposed upon us by the comfortable middle classes ments of the biggest politi- lined up with the Tory austerity and cuts? British state at Westmin- and the important decisions cal grassroots movement In this Voice, we offer the views of a range ster. They have sent our in Scotland are taken by the Scotland has ever seen. of Labour trade union and Yes activists on young men and women off people, openly and trans- That superb independence why the answer has to be a Yes vote. to die in illegal and im- parently, not behind doors coalition is truly the secret This referendum is not about parties but moral wars for centuries. by faceless, unelected, un- ingredient in the sweet Yes about creating a democracy in which we get Independence means we accountable corporations success we shall all taste on the government we vote for and open the way are guaranteed the govern- who have all the money. Friday 19 September. to a new just, equal and peaceful Scotland. issue 444 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • 3 VOTE YES For social justice, fairness and equality by , opportunity to working people in We have not yet challenged the borrowed too much, in mortgages or Women for Independence the UK. Of course, improvements fundamental notion on which all of on credit. The impact of zero con- have been made and some progress this is based – that if you just work tract hours, poor wage rates or the I GREW up supporting the secured over that time. hard enough, are ‘clever’ enough deregulation of banks and financial . For a time, I was a But not enough, because the fun- and try hard enough, you’ll do fine. services is seldom coherently of- Labour member and for four priv- damental political and economic Now in 2014, as part of the UK, fered as underlying the employment ileged years I worked for the party model on which that union is based we are actively encouraged to keep position or the parlous economic when it was in government at has remained largely unchallenged on blaming each other. So unem- state of the UK. The message is: let’s Holyrood. What drew me to and almost totally unchanged. ployment is the ‘fault’ of those who be divided and blame each other. Labour politics were the values of Those who were rich have be- arrive on our shores and take our And what of equality? We live in a social justice, fairness and equality. come richer, those who were poor jobs and food banks are the ‘fault’ of union that is the fourth most unequal And it is my continued belief in have become poorer. In the middle, those who can’t manage their in the western world. those values that leads me to sup- some have won through to the top money responsibly. The financial A union where the wages gap port independence now, in 2014. but the majority has struggled and crash and the justification that has between men and women is the It is not a backward looking sup- continues to struggle to keep their been offered for austerity economics highest in Europe, and where our port, clinging to the ‘old days’. It’s heads just above water. are the ‘fault’ of those of us who pensioners are the poorest and not based on centuries-old grudges our childcare and transport costs against ancient wrongs – real and the highest. perceived – or a romantic notion of a people ‘freed’. It is a pragmatic Gains threatened assessment of how best those val- The alternative to independence? ues can be realised in my lifetime. That the Union has always worked for us and always will? It hasn’t, it Unchallenged model won’t and the hard won gains we Scotland is a nation and for 300 have made in that union are increas- or so years we have been part of a ingly threatened. That it will all be union. For many of those years, sorted if we only hold fire and vote many people living in Scotland did Labour in the Westminster election well from that union. But succes- in 2015? Not with the UK Labour sive Westminster governments have commitments already made to keep failed to use their powers to redis- the failed economic model and the tribute wealth, or to systematically discredited political model of the and systemically deliver equality of INDYREF: Scotland’s chance for proper democracy PHOTO: Craig Maclean past decades. That we should re- member that the ‘real’ left is sup- Vote Yes to break the walls of cynicism posed to hate nationalism and that by Mary Lockhart, Co-operative and told they are chasing a unicorn, but where, with our loyalty demands a No vote? Labour Party member, feminist activist others, they are encouraged to work out how to Independence is no party’s prize. approach the unicorn until it comes to them. Independence is about asserting our OTHERS HAVE written of the political and struc- There is no class in Britain in any way own right to govern ourselves, and tural reasons for their decision to vote Yes. With which is meaningful (except of the people and no party loyalty is greater than our some of these reasons, I wholeheartedly agree. But parties in power). There is no shift or move to- loyalty to each other, ourselves and deep down, I have come to realise that they are not wards allowing people to imagine and join in our values. That it’s not ‘our place’ the reasons most important to me. All my life, peo- working towards a future based on the best, the to do these things, to take decision- ple who have had ideals and ideas have been brightest, and the finest. We are so discouraged making power into our own hands? sneered at. They are “idealists”, “believers in a land from reaching for the stars that we no longer No, because in each of the past 14 flowing with milk and honey”, and they are told to bother even to reach for the top of the hills. years of devolution, we have shown “get real”, because “without power, you can change I don’t believe there will be a mass class struggle that there is no one better able to nothing. And you can’t have power and purity.” in Britain unless and until the people in one part of make the right decisions for the peo- I think this has created a great wall of cynicism, it are set free to imagine. To redefine and set ple of Scotland than those of us who on one side of which the people are denied even course for the ideal, recognising and accepting the live here. Independence is about the right to dream, and on the other side the im- sacrifice which the journey towards it will entail. choice – choosing to trust ourselves, pure people with the power just keep adding I think that the hope which is sweeping Scotland choosing to have confidence that we more barbed wire and broken bottles, whilst that such a journey is possible will spread. And with can run our own affairs, choosing to changing nothing but the fashion in political logos it the conviction that there is nothing wrong with build our country anew – with and soundbites. I want to live in a place where having a vision of Utopia, provided you strive to power and wealth redistributed to when people have ideas and ideals they are not create it. I am proud to dream, and ready to strive! benefit the many and not the few. 4 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • issue 444 VOTE YES by Richie Venton, SSP national workplace organiser and USDAW Workers need to vote Yes workplace convener

THE WORKING class make up the vast ma- jority population, but we get a shrinking minor- ity of the wealth we create in the first place. Successive Westminster governments have widened the wealth gap, and imposed laws to keep workers imprisoned as underpaid wealth- creators for the tiny privileged minority who dictate over us. Wages are at their lowest share of national wealth since records began in 1956. Company chief executives earned the average annual worker’s wage – £26,000 – in one and a half days this year: by midday on Fat Cat Wednes- day 3 January. A million Scots are officially below the breadline, and 52 per cent of these are in jobs, working to stay poor. Class is at the heart of the choice on 18 Sep- SAVE THE YARDS: only a Yes vote can save Scotland’s shipyards – in the 1979 referendum, the No tember. If a Yes vote endangered the livelihoods camp promised to save jobs but all we got was rampant Thatcherism under Tories and New Labour of millions of working class Scots, why would the Tories have already planned a champagne people – so why vote No and remain part of this willpower to introduce a decent minimum wage party in London to celebrate a No vote? class-divided hell-house? of at least £9 an hour, with pensions to match. Why would multimillionaires, their hired Why vote No so we stay under Tory dictator- Vote Yes to scrap the most repressive anti- media and puppet politicians have spent two ship, or even a Tory-UKIP alliance, or at best a union laws in all of Europe and embed a charter years lying and scaremongering to terrify us into Labour government that openly supports 90 per of workers’ rights in the constitution. To scrap voting No? These remote exploiters know cent of the Tories’ cuts to jobs, services, benefits Trident and invest in peaceful jobs. To invest in something they don’t want us to know. They rely and wages? Why vote No and gamble on West- the NHS, education, childcare and public serv- heavily on the natural, human, financial and in- minster granting a few extra powers over in- ices through progressive taxation of the rich and dustrial wealth of Scotland to subsidise the rest come tax, whilst Westminster kept hold of the big business. To take Royal Mail, the energy in- of the UK – and have done for over 30 years. purse strings, dishing out another £25billion dustry, construction, transport, banks and big cuts next year, but letting Holyrood take the businesses into democratic public ownership. Workers better off with indy blame for the GBH committed against the Vote Yes to banish the dictatorship of the To- Professor Brian Ashcroft – economist, oppo- working class – the worst of both worlds?! ries and big business – and join the SSP to cam- nent of independence, husband of former Vote Yes to then demand a fundamental re- paign for the construction of an independent Labour leader Wendy Alexander – has written distribution of wealth and power to the working socialist Scotland; for majority rule by and for that if Scotland had been independent since class. Vote Yes and organise to build for a ma- the working class. Vote Yes to change the world, 1981, by 2013 it would have a budget surplus jority socialist government with the power and starting at home! of £68billion – instead of about £120billion share of the UK’s debt of £1.3trillion. ‘Vote Yes to protect NHS from privatisation’ Scotland not only exports food, oil, gas, by Mandy Nimmo, Labour’s PFI and followed to vote for, and I believe we whisky, engineering, etc, but also taxes to West- Staff Nurse a developing conclusion by have the resources and minster; £4.4billion of them in 2011-12 alone! the Tories will be to the ability to become an So imagine how much better off the working THE NHS in England is detriment of us all. independent country at the class potentially could be – if we not only had being privatised through the The has same time ending Tory rule. independent control of this wealth, but also a back door by the Tories. I’m afforded us some protection Independence will give the socialist government that re-distributed it fairly. voting Yes because I want to from cuts and privatisation people of Scotland the ability The Old Etonian boot-boys in Westminster, protect the NHS from cuts and even some advances like to elect a government that the City of London and company boardrooms and privatisation. free prescription charges. reflects our aspirations and can imagine this: that’s the core reason they op- An NHS free at the point of This is not enough though, make the NHS the pose Scottish independence! That, and their fear need is a principle many of with pledges of ongoing centrepiece of a commonly of losing the power to park devilish weapons of us hold dear, with private public sector cuts from the owned health service mass destruction on the Clyde, so they can strut health care and profiting three main Westminster prioritising care over balance the world stage in the shadow of the big boys from illness the abhorrent parties, only independence sheets. I want a country of US imperialism. antithesis of this principle. will allow us to protect and where a publicly owned NHS Workers wouldn’t vote to JOIN the dis- The headlong rush expand our NHS. is seen as a priority, United Kingdom where the richest five families towards the privatisation of I’m sick of getting something I believe can’t be have more wealth than the poorest 12 million the NHS, kickstarted by governments that we don’t achieved under the Tories. issue 444 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • 5 VOTE YES ANOTHER SCOTLAND IS POSSIBLE by John McAllion, SSP

ONE MEMENTO I have kept from my time as a Labour politician is a CD of the Reverend Hammer’s “Freeborn John”. The CD tells in song the story of John Lilburne the leader of the English Levellers in the 17th century. It was sent to me and to 46 other Labour MPs in gratitude for our rebellion against the Labour whips in December 1997 by voting against a cut of £6 a week to lone parent benefits. The New Labour government was then keen to establish its credentials on “welfare reform” by cracking down on what The Sun and the PEOPLE NOT PROFIT: Mail routinely described as benefit scroungers. the only war worth waging is the war against poverty and inequality PHOTO: Craig Maclean The cut had been planned by the outgoing Tory government and was now implemented tion. On that particular night of betrayal, Tony champagne with the rich and famous in the in full by the incoming Labour government. Blair hosted a champagne reception for media home of the British establishment since 1737. The Tories had been routed in a general elec- celebrities in Number 10 Downing Street. Gordon Brown, now posing as the social tion just six months previously. While most of his MPs trooped through the democratic champion of Better Together but New Labour now began to implement the lobbies with the Tories to punish the poor, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, swore that policies that had earned the Tories that rejec- Blair and his ministers partied and quaffed he would get the Labour “bastards” who had voted for the poor. Other and bigger betrayals Go forward and choose Yes would follow as New Labour embraced neolib- eralism, privatisation and free markets at by Bob Thomson, former chair of whose economy has been going down the plug- home while waging illegal and brutal wars the Labour Party in Scotland and hole since the 1970s, with an almost continuous overseas. The party that was created to elec- member Labour for Independence deficit on the balance of payments, an increasing torally challenge the British elite on behalf of national debt now one of the biggest in Europe workers had by now been suborned into be- I HAVE been a Labour Party member for over and the destruction of our manufacturing, steel coming the main electoral defence of that elite. 51 years, holding a range of positions from and mining industries with the resultant devasta- branch minute secretary to Scottish Chairman, tion of entire communities. Some comrades on Cuts from chapping on doors to negotiating with a the left argue that supporting independence is a Public ownership, progressive taxation, Labour Prime Minister. Where are we now? It betrayal of the working class in the rest of the UK. legally strong trade unions were all ditched in says Labour on the tin, but when you open it, it I firmly believe that Scottish independence will favour of new business friendly policies de- is a very pale imitation of what it should be. lead to constitutional change in the rest of the UK. signed to grow the private sector by cutting My membership card states that it is a demo- But should we go through the upheaval of sep- back on the public sector. The Scottish Parlia- cratic socialist party but the impartial observer aration to create a mini UK economy with its ment delivered within two years of taking would be hard put to justify calling it a social myriad social inequalities? I will be voting Yes power was designed as a bulwark against any democratic party. Three events emphasise the for a fairer, more equal society where gross do- further nationalist stirring north of the border. party leadership’s betrayal of its founding princi- mestic happiness is at least as important as gross Proportional representation, shunned at ples. Voting with the ConDem Coalition for a cap domestic product. Westminster, was enthusiastically adopted in on welfare benefits, the commitment to further The Yes campaign is not just the SNP but so- Holyrood as an insurance policy against the austerity cuts and forcing through changes reduc- cialist parties, the Greens and non-aligned indi- SNP ever forming a government. ing the party’s historic relations with affiliated viduals. I am campaigning with comrades in Putative Labour MSPs were rigorously se- trade unions. These events confirm my realisation Labour for Independence to campaign to encour- lected to exclude troublemakers and to put in that there is not a snowball’s chance in hell of re- age the 800,000 plus Scots who voted Labour in place loyalists who would never dream of claiming Labour at Westminster for working peo- the 2010 general election to vote Yes. challenging Westminster sovereignty. ple in the foreseeable future. New Labour! My The referendum is about the future of Scot- Labour, of course, got that all wrong. Holy- old pal Jimmy Reid described them as “non- land, not the SNP or Alex Salmond. Jean-Paul rood has had its fair share of troublemakers. Labour”. Better Together have spent the last 18 Sartre said in his book, Roads to Freedom, “you The SNP did win a majority and formed a months running Scotland down. If Scotland is have not only the right to choose but the duty to government. There will now be an independ- such a basket case economy, why are the unionist choose, and if you are not surrounded by poverty, ence referendum. Voters in Scotland can now parties so desperate to keep Scotland in the by war, by oppression, by cruelty – that is what see that another Scotland is possible. Union? The answer is that the biggest threat to you have chosen”. The first step towards turning that possibility Scotland’s prosperity is remaining in the UK Let us go forward – choose Yes. into reality is a Yes vote. We are almost there. 6 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • issue 444 VOTE YES by Lynda Williamson, Newsnet Scotland Build on campaign gains MOST COMMENTATORS would agree that the process of brought benefit all round then? main stream media. The referen- pened and what we see is people the independence referendum has Well, not quite. The one sector dum was a golden opportunity refusing to pay their television been transformational for voters which has come out of this for journalists, it should have licences and newspaper circula- in Scotland. Up and down the whole campaign deeply dam- been a time of renaissance for tion plummeting. country people have crowded aged (perhaps irrevocably) is the the industry. That hasn’t hap- The notable exception has into local halls in all kinds of been the Sunday Herald which weather to listen to the likes of managed to increase it’s circula- Colin Fox and Jim Sillars and tion by a paltry sum despite many, many more. being tainted by the blatant prop- The No campaign would have aganda emanating from it’s sister us believe that the referendum publication The Herald. has been a distraction, that people The paper lost any shred of are bored with it and wish it was journalistic integrity it had left all over but anyone who has dis- when it printed details of Alistair cussed the referendum will know Darling’s fears about polling day. that that is not the case. The rise of the grassroots Yes support has Oh, Darling... been phenomenal, something The stuff of Darling’s night- which I have certainly never seen mares is not the disintegration of in my lifetime. The No campaign his precious country, it is not the can only look on in envy. prospect of the dole queue where he best behave himself less he Making of the left gets sanctioned, it is not even the I believe that the referendum fading prospect of being able to has also been the making of the wrap himself in ermine. political left in Scotland. It’s also Oh no, Mr Darling is being given socialists in England and kept awake by “fears of absolute the rest of Britain the wake-up carnage” at the polling stations. call they sorely needed. So, the We were not enlightened as to the process of the referendum has GRASSROOTS: campaign has transformed the country PHOTO: Simon Whittle nature of this ‘carnage’ he pre- dicts. Are we talking stabbings, DUMP TRIDENT AND STRENGTHEN PEACE shootings, beatings or just eggs? by Isobel Lindsay, leading Scotland can save money on So Trident would not be All this at a time when the disen- peace activist this and also by having a operational for years and it franchised are being urged to reg- defence budget similar to other would create strong pressure in ister to vote. FOR THE first time in over 50 European countries. This will England to get rid of it. Scotland It will be no small irony if the years, Scotland has a realistic mean that we can save £1billion would be highly respected by people who are put off from chance of getting rid of nuclear every year and that can be many countries in the world for braving the dangers of the weapons here and of making a spent on improving our social getting rid of nuclear weapons polling station are the middle significant contribution to services and our housing. and setting a good example. class, over sixties who are most international pressure for nuclear There are not many jobs in A Yes vote would mean we likely to vote No. disarmament. It needs a Yes on Scotland dependent on Trident. didn’t get dragged into wars like The Scottish Police Federation that ballot paper. This is a big The Ministry of Defence’s own Iraq and Afghanistan unless we even felt the need to release a responsibility for us and a great figures are 520. Most Trident jobs had debated this and taken the statement pleading for a more re- privilege to have the power on are in England and the United decision ourselves. sponsible attitude saying: 18 September to do this. We States. Scotland can create more It would mean Scotland would “Politicians and supporters of have around 200 nuclear bombs jobs by using the money to make have representation at the whichever point of view need to based just a 30-minute journey our communities better not to United Nations, the European be mindful of the potential impact from Glasgow. Any one of these spend it on more ways of killing Union, the World Trade of intemperate, inflammatory and bombs could kill hundreds of people. The importance of what Organisation, the Organisation exaggerated language, lest they thousands of innocent civilians. Scotland could do has for Security and Cooperation in be seen to seek to create a self ful- Westminster plans to buy a significance beyond our shores. Europe, and many others. filling prophecy.” new range of Trident missiles There is no base in England that Small countries have played a I shouldn’t complain I sup- and submarines. These would can take Trident. It would be valuable role in international pose, their loss is our gain for the cost about a £100billion to buy many years and a high cost to affairs. Scotland would be well- citizen journalists who inhabit and maintain over their lifetime. build a new one. placed to set a good example. the world wide web. issue 444 • scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com • 7 for , Independence email: [email protected] and Internationalism scottishsocialistvoice.wordpress.com 5–18 September 2014 Issue 444 VotePromoted by Jim McVicar on behalf ofYes the Scottish Socialist Party, Suiteto 370, Central Chambers,throw 93 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 6LD. Printedoff by Forward Graphi elitecs, Elderpark Workspace, 100 Elderpark rule Street, Glasgow G51 3TR by Jean Urquhart MSP A NEW SCOTLAND: and MSP a country run by the people is a country run for the people THE REFERENDUM has PHOTO: Craig Maclean seen the greatest explosion of political engagement in our lifetimes. People in Britain are generally told that it’s best if we let our betters make the decisions for us, but now Scots have our own future in our own hands, and we are proving more than up to the task. This needn’t be a flash in the pan. If we vote Yes, real democracy, driven by ordinary people, could be the norm. The UK is a deeply elitist and undemocratic edifice. Decisions are stitched up between safe-seated politicians and self-serving very few countries have a the chance to become a very dollar, we would bring about a corporate bosses before most political system as completely different place. fair distribution of our wealth. voters ever hear about them. in thrall to the money men as In a country that works for The rich would be taxed fairly that of the UK. people, not corporate interests, and without sweetheart deals Big business So even if Scotland turned we could expect social and and loopholes, poverty wages In this environment it is out only to be an average environmental justice to be would be outlawed, and the hardly surprising that the state democracy, it would be a vast protected and advanced. Public social security system would be has become overwhelmingly improvement. But we can aim ownership of public services, a tool of protection, not coercion. captured by corporate power. a lot higher than that. including the railways and big Westminster governments, Armed with a newly-engaged energy firms, is vastly popular Our future of either party, reliably take the population, fresh from the but held back by the power of big A country run by the people side of big business against success of birthing our country business – in a real democracy, it is a country run for the people. the interests of individuals and anew; and with, for the first would be the obvious choice. We’re voting Yes because this communities. time, a written constitution that If power came equally to is Scotland’s chance to throw Global capital is powerful enshrines political, social and every vote and every voice off the rule of elites, and make everywhere, of course, but economic rights, Scotland has instead of to each pound or our future in our own image. Join the SSP here Fill in this form and send it to: Scottish Socialist Party, Suite 370, 4th Floor, Central Chambers, 93 Hope St, Glasgow G2 6LD. Or telephone: 07810205747 Or join via our website: scottishsocialistparty.org/join-us g I would like to join the Scottish Socialist Party g I would like more info on the Scottish Socialist Party Name...... Address...... Phone...... Email......