Scotland

The Groan of Destiny

In 1950 four young Scots stole a lump of rock from Westminster Abbey and took it to Scotland. It was the “Stone of Scone”, reputedly used in the coronation of kings of Scotland, but taken to London in 1296. The piece of rock was eventually abandoned in the grounds of Arbroath Abbey, and police took it back to Westminster Abbey. One of the four, Ian Hamilton, wrote a book about it in 1952, No Stone Unturned. Re-titled Stone of Destiny, and provided with a foreword by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, the book has been republished to coincide with the release of a film of the same name...

Socialism or Scottishism? The political direction of the SSP

The lynchpin of the SSP’s politics is its call for an “independent socialist Scotland” or a “Scottish socialist republic.” [This is a longer version of this article than in the printed paper] In the small print – and, to be fair to the SSP, not necessarily just in the small print – these slogans are qualified by statements such as “a fully-fledged socialist society could never be achieved within the borders of a small country such as Scotland.” The independent Scottish socialist republic, therefore, turns out to be a country with “a socialist government,” and “a socialist economy with an...

Alexander in a spin

In a television interview on Sunday 4 May Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander suggested she was in favour of an early referendum on Scottish independence — “Bring it on!” was the expression she used. Later Alexander said she wanted a referendum during the next twelve months and that Gordon Brown backed her position. On 7 May Brown said Alexander’s position had been misunderstood — neither he nor Alexander supported an early referendum! The following day Alexander told the Scottish Parliament that she wanted a referendum “now”. By the close of the week Brown and Alexander had issued parallel...

Oil refinery strike for pensions

At the time of going to press, 1,200 members of Amicus/Unite employed at Grangemouth oil refinery are due to begin 48 hours of strike action at 6.00am on Sunday 27 April – the first strike in a British oil refinery since 1935. The strike could result in fuel supplies in Scotland, the North of England, and Northern Ireland drying up within a matter of days, and also lead to a shutdown of production in the North Sea oilfield. (Although the strike is only due to last 48 hours, running down, and then resuming, production at the refinery is a lengthy process. Fuel shortages could last for as long...

Defend Tommy Sheridan?

In mid-December of last year Tommy Sheridan, former Scottish Parliament member and leader of the Scottish Socialist Party was arrested and charged with perjury. In 2006, after the News of the World had carried articles alleging that he had engaged in extra-marital affairs and visited a swingers’ club in Manchester, Sheridan took the newspaper to court and was awarded £200,000 in damages after the jury found in his favour. In the aftermath of the trial — which had seen leading figures in the SSP give evidence, under protest and unwillingly, against Sheridan — the SSP split. Backed by the...

Scotland won’t play second fiddle to England yet again!

Don’t let revelations about Paul Abrahams’ £664,000 donations to the Labour Party overshadow Scottish Labour Party leader Wendy Alexander’s own outstanding contribution to the Labour Party sleaze scandal! For our readers’ benefit, we attempt to answer the outstanding questions. Isn’t the amount involved a paltry £950? Yes — but that’s the point! When Alexander stood for Scottish Labour Party leader in the summer, her campaign team had the brilliant idea of soliciting donations a fraction under £1,000. (The sources of donations beneath that figure do not need to be publicly disclosed.) Ten...

SNP plays long game

According to SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, Scotland will be independent by 2017. Salmond’s claim follows earlier SNP predictions which came and went but left the Union unscathed. The SNP’s best known prognostication was its slogan of the early 1990s: “Scotland Free by 93.” As the then Scottish Labour Party leader, Donald Dewar, commented in a rare moment of humour: “It’s a good slogan. It rhymes, and they can revive it every ten years.” Salmond is certainly correct not to see independence as something lurking round the corner. Recent opinion polls have consistently shown...

Scottish Socialists depleted

Around 150 delegates and members turned up to the Scottish Socialist Party’s 2007 annual conference, held in Dundee last Sunday (21 October). Overturning a previous and well-established policy, the conference passed a motion in support of scrapping religious and denominational schools. Underlining its commitment to this policy, the conference also voted to delete a clause in the motion which allowed for “inclusive assemblies which could draw on religious and non-religious traditions.” A motion opposing the abolition of weekly rubbish bin collections proved more controversial (even though large...

NHS Scot-free

The 23 October edition of the Daily Mail featured a rant by the odious High Tory Max Hastings, the boldface of the title screaming “How much longer will we put up with the Scots spending so much of our money?” The basic rationale of his piece is that Scottish people live a life of luxury — yes, not only do they not have to pay tuition fees, but Alex Salmond “plans to abolish” NHS prescription charges — which “the kindly, stupid English” have to shell out for, but do not benefit from themselves. Westminster is paying for the Holyrood government’s “largesse”. The attempt to scapegoat the Scots...

The "Zionophobes" that pushed even the SWP to resign in protest

Kelvin branch of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) has submitted a motion to the 2007 SSP conference calling on the party to support the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and its campaign for a boycott of Israel. Unremarkable? Not when you know about the SPSC. The SP’S’C - or better, SP’S’C, because there’s not much "solidarity" involved - marked Holocaust Memorial Day last year with readings from Jim Allen’s play "Perdition" which gave dramatic expression to the notion that Israel owes its existence to Nazi-Zionist collaboration in the Holocaust). And it hosts Gilad Atzmon (who believes...

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