Published on 11 Dec 2012 John McAllion SSP The British state is running scared of independence & the unionist media are desperate to convince the population that there isnt much support for independence, contrary to the truth. John speaks of Britain losing its empire and how Scottish independence is the biggest threat to British imperialism since the Irish War of Independence. He speaks of his experiences of Westminster when he was a Labour MP and how the subject of Scotland was rarely on the agenda and when it was, MPs including those supposed to be representing Scottish constituencies flew out of the door, so disinterested were they in Scottish issues, yet now even those representing the interests of the ruling classes are suddenly interested in Scotland because independence might have an impact on their wealth and power, like whether Scotlands future taxation will be better or worse for the super-rich and the corporations. He talks of Scotland being a mixture of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds (he himself has Irish blood in him) and how nationalism and internationalism neednt be opposed to each other. The problem is when you are part of a neo-liberal system being part of the UK and the European Union. He cites Norway as an example of a country that is not part of the neo-liberal consensus. Norway has a high taxation system in order to provide adequate services and welfare. He talks about the poor state of health in Scotland, government claims of not being able to afford welfare, and how we can tackle poverty and revolutionise Scotland with major changes such as renationalising the railways and fuel companies. Although Scotland is rich in natural resources people are currently living in fuel poverty due to the prices the energy companies charge. We need to encourage people to debate their own future including important issues like whether to keep membership of NATO, the monarchy etc and not just leave it up to Parliament, the SNP or the media to do all the debating. People need to insist on the changes they want in an independent Scotland otherwise what will be the point of independence if we are just to get the status quo. Partial transcript: If you read any of the unionist newspapers in this country, I suppose in Scotland that means any newspaper cos theyre all unionist, and Im talking here about the daily Record and the Sun, the Herald and the Scotsman or whatever, youll very quickly come across a headline in a story that claims support for Scottish independence has fallen and opposition to Scottish independence has increased. In fact I read one report recently that said this year alone theres been 3 successive opinion polls that showed a widening gap between those who oppose Scottish independence and those for Scottish independence so the claim now is theres nearly twice as many opposed as opposed to supporting it. Thats what theyre trying to claim. The campaigns hardly started and theyre trying to say its all over. Now if that were the case and I dont think it is the case you would then expect the No campaign, Better Together Campaign to be on something of a political high and you would think that their chairman, head of the campaign the ex-chancellor Alistair Darling would be able to play the role of a statesman over and above the political fray relaxed and confident and almost certain of what the outcome will be in 2 years time with a massive no vote registered by the people of Scotland. There was the same Alistair Darling only last weekend delivering a memorial lecture in East Lothian and launched a vitriolic attack against the very idea of Scottish independence. An independent Scotland that chose to keep the crown in his words would sell itself into serfdom. He warned the Scots that if they went down that road, the independence theyd get would come attached with all kinds of political strings. He even went so far as to argue that we would become culturally isolated from the rest of the island by independence. But at the same time, listen to what hes saying: and this is not a man whos confident and relaxed and certain about what the outcome of this campaign is going to be; this is a man thats increasingly worried and anxious, even frightened of what the outcome of the campaign is going to be. And hes not alone. I mean, I was in Westminster for 14 years as an MP and what I remember from my time down in Westminster was that the very rare occasions that Scottish business managed to get onto the floor of the house the chairs were emptied as MPs flew for the exits including a significant number of MPs who normally were there to represent Scottish constituencies. Westminster wasnt interested in Scotland. Compare that to today. Westminsters frightened. The public meeting was to promote an independence that will truly benefit the majority of Scots, an independence without NATO or the monarchy, a fairer tax system, nationalisation of fuel and transport, money spent on better services instead of imperialistic wars.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 14:17:11 +0000
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