A New Force for Change is Born

Reports on the launch of the Independence Convention from this weeks Scottish Socialist Voice:
A new force for change is born
by Eddie Truman
After months of organisation by representatives from all of Scotland's independence supporting parties, figures from civic Scotland and a range of independence supporting individuals, the Independence Convention was launched at a packed meeting in Edinburgh's Dynamic Earth on St Andrews Day, 30 November.
Alex Salmond opened the meeting and highlighted asylum, nuclear weapons and the Iraq war as reasons why Scotland should break the Union while Robin Harper spoke for the Green Party.
SSP national convenor Colin Fox welcomed the launch of the convention and when he pointed out that St Andrews Day, 30 November, was also the anniversary of the death of one of Scotland's greatest fighters for independence, John MacLean, there was spontaneous applause.Colin outlined MacLean's opposition to imperialist war and his jailing by the British state, saying that this was the tradition from which the SSP came to the Independence Convention.
"The SSP does not support the idea of the Queen as head of state", he said. "We see Scotland in terms of class, with a class war that far from having vanished is, in the modern world, more acute than it ever was before."Independence for us is a democratic right but it is only a first step to a better world, a better society, and we see that as a socialist Scotland."We believe that the break up of the British state is well underway and that a complete break up would be a thoroughly progressive development in the march for liberation and self determination for Scotland."The SSP wants to see a Scotland free from poverty and inequality, a Scotland free from nuclear weapons and militarism."
But the politicians were put in the shade by two remarkable performances from actress Joyce Falconer, 'Roisin Henderson' in River City, and actress and comedienne Elaine C Smith. Joyce held the audience transfixed with a performance that included A Man's A Man, proving that the Scots musical and literary tradition stretching back centuries remains a vital part of our political culture.
To end the evening Elaine C Smith turned in a masterful performance.She started off by gently teasing the "gentlemen of the press" but followed with a devastating critique of the Scottish media from the "cringing" Herald to the "appalling" quality of STV's football coverage."The Independence Convention is a sign that Scotland is a nation on the verge of growing up", Elaine said. "Independence; the movement that dare not speak its name.
"I was an active member of the left during the 70s and 80s but I could never understand that while I was out there marching for independence and self determination for El Salvador and Nicaragua or South Africa or wherever but when we said 'what about Scotland?' I was told I wasn't a true socialist!"Some people came to the launch sceptical to one degree or another but there is no doubt that the powerful theme of unity and the possibility of building the movement through Scotland's thriving cultural scene won over the waverers.
The rocky road to the St Andrew's day launch
On St Andrew's Day, the Scottish Independence Convention was finally launched after two years of stop-start discussions involving representatives of the SNP, the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and various non-aligned individuals.
The idea of an independence convention was first floated in the aftermath of the 2003 election which saw the political geography of Scotland transformed.Before the Scottish Parliament was established, the SNP had for generations been virtually the sole standard bearer of the cause of independence.Even after the first election to the new parliament, the SNP remained the overwhelmingly dominant pro-independence force.
In 1999, out of 38 MSPs sympathetic to independence, 35 were members of the SNP.
After 2003, the number of SNP MSPs was reduced to 27. But the number of pro-independence MSPs outside the SNP rose from three to 17.In the past, the SNP's road map to independence involved winning an SNP majority of seats at Westminster or Holyrood.
That SNP majority would then open up negotiations with Westminster, and finally put a package before the Scottish people in a referendum.But been even when support for independence has soared above 50 per cent, as it did at times in the 1990s, it has never been possible for the SNP to come remotely close to winning a majority of Scottish seats.During the concentrated four weeks of a general Westminster election, Scottish parties are invariably marginalized as the media focuses on British parties and leaders.
Holyrood elections have proven to be more favourable terrain for Scottish-based parties and independent candidates. But the PR system was specifically designed to prevent any single party ever gaining an overall majority, at least in the foreseeable future.
The idea of an independence convention first emerged in the months following the 2003 election.
The SSP began to discuss seriously the idea of an independence convention in August 2003.
A month or so later, a group of SNP activists held a fringe meeting at the SNP conference in Inverness, addressed by Tommy Sheridan of the SSP, and Alex Neil, a dissident SNP MSP.
By the end of 2003, the SSP officially backed the Independence Convention.Within a few months the Greens and the SNP had also endorsed the general idea, though the SNP leadership appeared lukewarm.
Although regular discussions continued through 2004 and 2005, the initial momentum had begun to run out of steam, after several false starts when plans to publicly launch the convention were postponed.
Finally, a date was agreed: 30 November, St Andrew's Day.
With minimal advance publicity, 300 people packed into the conference centre of the Dynamic Earth, in Edinburgh, surpassing all expectations.
Raising the Scarlet Standard
An alternative road map to independence
by Alan McCombes
On the eve of the launch of the Independence Convention, the SNP published its own road map to independence, Raising The Standard.The 28-page document is described as the SNP's contribution to the discussions which will take place within convention.One part of the statement is headed 'What An Independent Parliament Can Do'. The paper acknowledges that "this section reflects SNP ideas, but other parties may wish to do things differently post-independence".
Much of this section is standard SNP policy, including higher pensions, the development of renewable and low carbon energy, a nuclear-free Scotland, troops out of Iraq and an end to dawn raids on asylum seekers.These are broadly progressive proposals which could be supported by other pro-independence forces, including the SSP, the Greens and various independents.
However, there are also vast areas of ideological disagreement. Raising The Standard suggests that a future government of an independent Scotland could, "if they so wish, reduce taxes for business to encourage investment in Scotland."
In contrast, the SSP stands for a socialist Scotland based on public ownership, decentralisation of power, and wealth redistribution.
It would be naïve to expect that the SSP's goal of an independent socialist republic could be achieved in one single leap.
There will be multiple battles en route to that goal. It is more than likely that independence and the break-up of the British state will be posed long before the forces of socialism are strong enough to defeat capitalism in Scotland.
At the same time, providing the left throws its weight behind the struggle for independence, socialism in Scotland would be massively strengthened as result of the breaking apart of the British state.
The part of the SNP paper of most immediate relevance for the Independence Convention is its strategy to achieve independence.
It sets out proposals for proceeding towards independence in the event of the SNP becoming the biggest single party in Holyrood after the 2007 Scottish election.
It states that "an SNP-led government will ask the people of Scotland to vote in a referendum within its first term".
In the event of a yes vote, the SNP-led Scottish Executive would "begin negotiations with the government of the UK on the details of the independence settlement and on the transfer of powers to the Scottish Parliament".
It suggests that, after an independence vote, a new constitution should be drawn up by a "constitutional convention" which is "representative of Scottish society and shall include Scots of various origins and backgrounds."It does not spell out whether this constitutional convention should be elected or appointed.
Nor does it explain what mechanisms would be put in place to ensure that it is representative.
The SSP fully supports the referendum proposal. The establishment of an independent Scotland would be a revolutionary break with 300 years of history.
It would involve wresting control of Scotland's nuclear weapons, its energy grid, its oilfields and its economy out of the hands of Westminster.
There would be ferocious opposition from a powerful array of vested interests on both sides of the border and from abroad, not least from the palaces of global power in Washington DC.
Such a radical leap could only be taken with the full support of the people of Scotland expressed through a democratic referendum.
Given the weight of forces that would be mobilised against independence, it would be sensible to call a referendum swiftly, within 12 months of a pro-independence majority being elected in Holyrood.
Even New Labour was able to draw up a white paper on devolution and put it to a referendum within five months of coming to power in 1997.
A pro-independence majority in Holyrood after 2007 - including the SNP, the SSP, the Greens and non-aligned pro-independence MSPs - would be a decisive breakthrough and would clear the road for an early referendum.The SSP would be prepared to co-operate with other independence forces in Holyrood to bring about a referendum and to maximise the yes vote during the referendum campaign itself. That would not require entering a coalition government.
Even if there was no overall parliamentary majority for independence post-2007, the Independence Convention should still pile on the pressure for a referendum.
In 300 years, the people of Scotland have never been allowed a democratic vote on full self-determination.
Especially if the SNP were to become the biggest single party in the Scottish Parliament, the Lib Dems and even sections of the Labour Party could be forced, on democratic grounds, to support the calling of an independence referendum.
In the event of a yes vote, there is a powerful case for the establishment of a body independent of the political parties whose sole task would be to draw up a brand new constitution for an independent Scotland.
However, rather than an appointed gathering of the 'great and the good', this should be a directly elected constitutional assembly, with inbuilt mechanisms to ensure the assembly is representative of Scotland's geographical, gender and ethnic diversity.
It could, for example, consist of ten representatives from each of Scotland's eight regions, 50 per cent women, with additional places elected from Scotland's ethnic minority communities.
The assembly should be given a clear remit to draw up a constitution based on two essential principles.
The first is maximum democracy. A 21st century constitution should guarantee a fair and proportionate electoral system, with no institutions or individuals wielding hereditary power.
Raising The Standard suggests that the Queen should continue to be 'Head of State of Scotland' until a specific referendum is held to change that arrangement.
Yet the role of the monarch as head of state, and the associated royal prerogative, cannot be separated from the rest of the constitution.
It would be absurd to draw up the most democratic constitution in the world - then allow that constitution to be presided over by a feudal monarch who owes her position to ancestry and genetics.
The second of these principles should be tolerance. There should be full and equal citizenship for all who live and work in Scotland; and no discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexuality, age or disability.Any proposed constitution - or alternative constitutions - drawn up by a constitutional assembly could then be voted upon by the people of Scotland in a further referendum
When Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela in 1998, his central pledge was to tear up the old constitution and establish a constitutional assembly that would start with a blank slate.
A radical new 'Bolivarian Constitution' - named after the 19th century Latin American national liberation leader, Simon Bolivar - was eventually adopted after a bitterly-fought referendum.
The Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela outlaws discrimination. It refuses to recognise titles of heredity or nobility. It bans the death penalty.It prevents the establishment of foreign military bases or facilities within the borders of Venezuela. It upholds the values of freedom, equality, justice, peace, pluralism and decentralisation of power.
These are the kind of principles that could inspire mass support for an independent Scotland. Before and after independence the SSP will continue to fight on the side of the poor, the oppressed and exploited in Scotland and internationally.
We will continue to champion the cause of a socialist Scotland, a socialist Europe and a socialist world.
Independence in itself will not bring about socialism. But it can open up a gateway to a socialist Scotland, and help electrify the forces challenging capitalism in England, Wales, Ireland and other parts of Europe.
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