After the 18 September referendum in Scotland, the battles against low pay, inequality, and cuts remain to be fought there, pretty much the same as in England.
The issue of NHS cuts in Scotland was raised as a scare just before the referendum, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies (conservative, but with no special axe to grind over Scottish separation) found that spending on the NHS in Scotland would fall by 1% in real terms, between 2009-10 and 2015-16, and rise by about 4% in real terms in England.
Overall public budgets in Scotland have been cut a bit less than in England, thanks to the “Barnett formula” for funding — about 8% rather than 13% — but SNP rule is no shield against cuts.
The Scottish government’s own figures show “relative poverty” as 20% of the urban population, and increasing. The Gini coefficient, a summary index of inequality, is a bit lower in Scotland than in Britain overall (because of the concentration of the rich around London), but has risen in Scotland just as in England.
Socialist Worker of 27 September quoted a “yes” activist, Caitlin Rennie, as saying that: “The referendum highlighted [social] issues that No voters have an interest in changing, and we can use that to unite us and push for change in Scotland together”.
Absolutely! That is the only basis for real struggle on the social issues. A mindset which identifies Yes (to Scottish separation) with “left”, and No with “right”, will divide and cripple the labour movement and the working class.
The SNP will want to focus political energy on its efforts to get as much as it can out of the promises of greater Scottish autonomy made by prime minister David Cameron shortly before 18 September.
Working-class unity on social issues should be the priority for socialists. When an important economic centre like Aberdeen votes 59% No, and 18-24 year olds vote 52% No, it is nonsense to dismiss No as a right-wing vote.
Some on the left in Scotland want to continue to focus on separation. Former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan, has advocated an SNP vote in 2015, and a leader of the current SSP has recommended for 2105 a “Yes Alliance, a pro-independence slate of candidates... embracing the three parties that were in Yes Scotland – SNP, SSP and Greens”.
Socialist Worker of 6 October reports with apparent approval that “people are determined to continue the Yes campaign by any means necessary” and that “some Yes campaigners want to go further and argue that the main fight is to secure a second referendum. Others are demanding a recount and are convinced the vote was rigged”.
It’s time to move on to class politics.
