Welcome to Scottish Communists
Scottish & Welsh Independence - a Socialist View
21st Century Marxism 2011
A Revolutionary Politics presentation & workshop, recorded at 21 Century Marxism in London 2011.
Professor John Foster, International Secretary
Chair Robert Griffiths, General Secretary Communist Party of Britain
Main Presentation
Further Discussion
Explained: The SNP versus Westminster
Suddenly we are in the middle of a constitutional crisis.
On Monday (9 Jan) David Cameron demanded that Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond hold a snap referendum on Scottish independence.
The following day Con-Dem Scottish Secretary Michael Moore announced that the referendum would be under UK jurisdiction, legally binding and solely for and against independence.
At first sight these challenges to the SNP government may appear both strange and provocative. They are certainly fateful.
But there is an explanation. It can be found in a little-noticed event which occurred in a committee room of the Scottish Parliament just 10 days before Christmas.
Devolution Max or Independence: Danger ahead
Professor John Foster writes.
When it comes to the limited additional powers enshrined in the Scotland Bill and the alternative SNP proposal that would grant full fiscal powers to the country, the bigger picture is important.
Financial overexpansion is being resolved across the world by the concentration of capital on an unprecedented scale and a political drive to shift the balance of power decisively against labour.
The biggest potential loser in this struggle is democracy - in its proper sense of rule by the people - and the ability to exercise some form of collective control over the power of capital and its market forces.
This attack on democracy can be seen today across the EU and in Britain, and this is the context within which to judge current pressure for constitutional change in Scotland.
It is important to recall that the modern movement for a Scottish parliament was initiated to assert precisely such a class understanding of democracy.
20 YEARS AFTER THE COUNTER REVOLUTION - Youth look to the Future - to Socialism!

The Communist Youth Organizations that sign the following announcement call upon the youth of Europe, and of the whole world, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the USSR and the overthrow of socialism.
This anniversary, from the scope of the bourgeois governments and parties, from the scope of the forces of capital, is a chance to slander socialism and its contribution, to project the capitalist “eternity” and “welfare”. These are the ones that with their applied politics have taken back all the youth’s rights; they have made dozens of imperialist wars and are planning even more; they have condemned us in poverty and unemployment; they penalize communist ideology.
From our scope, the scope of the workers, of the peoples and the youth of the world, this anniversary is a chance to remember and highlight the achievements of socialism, its contribution to humanity; a chance to draw significant conclusions of the defeat in the years 1989-1991.
We address to the young people, to learn and know the truth about socialism; To tell them that our future is the new world, Socialism-Communism.
United we are stronger - On Scottish Independence & PM Cameron Row
If David Cameron is sincere in his protestations of not wanting to see Scotland leave the UK, he should abandon efforts to meddle in a question proper to Scottish voters.
Alex Salmond has previously noted that interference in the consultation process by Westminster would prove a boon for those seeking independence, which seems self-evident.
Tories are deservedly an endangered species in Scotland, so the suggestion that Scottish voters may need protecting from themselves by Cameron stretches credibility.
The demand for a re
ferendum on independence is a Scottish National Party policy. None of the unionist parties at Westminster or Holyrood projected such an initiative.
So proposals from them to order a vote earlier than planned by the Scottish government or to impose the terms of the question(s) to be put before the electorate would be seen clearly for what they are - an attempt to scupper the democratic process.
When Cameron offers a "fair, legal and decisive" solution to this or any other political issue, hackles rise.
Far from fairness, what the Tory leader is about is attempting to take control of a process in order to deliver an outcome acceptable to his party or to its corporate backers.
Cameron's spokesman blew the gaff in saying that "business" was worried about whether Scotland would remain in the UK, affecting its readiness to invest.
"That uncertainty can have a detrimental impact on the economy and that is why he is saying that he thinks we need to get on with this sooner rather than later," he added.
The Westminster-based parties have to accept that they lost the Scottish parliamentary elections. The SNP has an overall majority and democracy dictates that it should decide when its proposal should be put before the Scottish electorate.
If and when that time comes and there is one question facing voters - a straight Yes or No to Scotland leaving the UK - the Morning Star will advocate a No vote.
This is based on our paper's traditional position of backing devolution within Britain rather than secession, supporting socialism and the essential role of working-class unity throughout Britain to achieve this.
England, Wales and Scotland do not have separate ruling classes. The British ruling class is united and powerful. Combating it requires similar unity and strength on the part of working people.
The SNP parliamentary majority at Holyrood confers on the nationalist party the right to govern, but its leadership knows that not every vote it received can be translated into a firm declaration for national independence.
Many of its votes, especially from working people, were cast in response to a feeling of having been let down by the pro-banker policies of new Labour at Westminster, echoed by its Scottish franchise.
This process was enhanced by the confident and accomplished nature of its leadership, which contrasted with the shambles that was Scottish Labour.
However, Salmond's advocacy of a northern European "arc of prosperity" looks far less attractive now, as does his intention of slashing corporation tax and offering other sweeteners to lure overseas "investors."
The Morning Star believes that Scotland's working people have more to gain from standing alongside their Welsh and English brothers and sisters to defeat the Con-Dem coalition and fight for socialist change rather than from embracing the SNP strategy of a Scottish tax haven at the service of capitalist speculators.
Editorial Comment 10 Jan http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/113956
Women Leaders of the Labour Movement and Red Clydeside
Communists and many on the left have long fought for equality for women in society and in the work place.
Although we still have a distance to go today towards achieving these aims, it is inspiring to hear of the huge struggles of women in the past against massive obstacles in, what was then, highly patriarchal society.
Marion Munro described her experiences as an engineering worker in the 1940s and 50s and the struggles on pay and equal conditions. John Foster looked at the lives of Margaret Irwin, first secretary of the STUC, Helen Crawfurd, the Suffragette and Red Clydesider who met Lenin and became a leading Communist and Agnes Dollan, Red Clydesider and housing campaigner who went on to become a leading figure in the Labour Party.
Part of the Morning Star newspaper's "Our Class Our Culture" series from throughout Scotland.
Recorded December 2011 in Paisley Town Hall.
Professor John Foster
Marion Munro (to whom we give thanks for stepping in at short notice).
Morning Star Urgent Appeal - report back
Never before has the Morning Star launched a more urgent appeal. Never before has the response been so overwhelming.
It was at a sombre November 15 meeting of the paper's business committee that editor Bill Benfield distributed a document that would become crucial to our survival.
Weeks of alarm about a worsening cash flow crunch had finally come to a head. Something drastic had to be done.
Within hours the full scale of the immediate financial crisis had been made public in the next day's edition. Bill's appeal article set out in stark terms the list of challenges that our £1.4 million-a-year operation faces. Financially crippling distribution problems created by our reliance on road, a Fighting Fund shortfall running into the thousands, and an effective advertising boycott.
The cash flow problem was so serious this time that Bill set a six-week expiry date for the paper after 82 years ploughing an often lonely furrow as a daily dose of political sanity. Our aim was to raise £50,000 on top of the £25,000 remaining Fund shortfall to year's end - a whopping £75,000 in all.
In truth in those first hours few believed that we could meet this massive Lifeline Appeal target in time for such a cruel deadline.
On that evening William Rust House fell silent as the last of the workers headed out into the darkness full of fear about the paper's future.
Little did they know that the scene had been set for one of the most triumphant chapters in our daily miracle's history.
Bliadhna Mhath Ùr - Fight on in 2012

In a new year message, CP general secretary Robert Griffiths has written to members and supporters calling for 2012 to be turned into a year of sustained struggle to block job loss and the destruction of industry, the shedding and privatisation of public services and broad opposition to EU austerity and attacks on the sovereignty of Britain. Griffiths asserts that the key is for the Labour Movement to illuminate the many struggles now breaking out with an alternative economic and political strategy based around the People's Charter.
"Please accept my New Year greetings on behalf of the Communist Party, and my thanks for your efforts to build the labour movement and our party in the fightback against Britain's unelected government of the bankers.
We have seen mass action in England, Scotland and Wales. First came March 26 followed by June 30. There was the commemorative march in Cable Street on October 4. Then came the mighty display of working class and popular anger on November 30, which the government found impossible to shrug off. The active participation of millions in every village, town and city of Britain did the government damage. Everywhere workers are asking 'What now, where next?'
Such a level of political consciousness does not come easily or readily. It results from the struggle of ideas, through street campaigning and through propaganda by word and deed. We have launched the new edition of our party's programme, Britain's Road to Socialism (buy it click here), and at our recent successful Festival for 21st Century Marxism, we set out the ideas that make workers better organised and stronger. In 2012 we have even bolder plans, with new publications, events and initiatives. We will be launching new commissions and advisories to create arenas for debate and action within and by the party. We will be inviting you to take an active part in them.
Together with our national women's organiser Liz Payne, I have recently returned from representing our party at the 13th international meeting of communist and workers parties, held this year in Athens. The Greek people have been a courageous example to us all. We met the Russian communists who recently gained 13 million votes and who are battling to rescue their society from oligarchs and thieves. Other parties present in Athens - for example Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, South Africa, Brazil - are in government while others struggle against bans and imprisonment. The Communist Party of Britain proudly takes its place in a movement that fights all the time and everywhere for a better world for working people.What is to be done - where now after November 30th Strike? #n30
"What is to be done - where now after November 30th Strike?" Named after a popular Lenin pamplet on tactics, this was a Communist Party meeting with other Left forces, building on the success of the united trade union movement action in November 2011, which saw 20,000 march in Glasgow City centre.
Across the UK, millions of people struck and marched in dozens of towns and cities.
That action, co-ordinated with 30 other unions, was a powerful display of united trade union opposition to unfair and unnecessary cuts in pensions and of the depth of support for the alternative to the government's damaging economic policies.
The action has won growing public support and Ministers have undoubtedly been pushed further onto the defensive. Their wild claims about the strike and their misleading comments on public sector pensions have been exposed for what they are: desperate attempts to deflect attention from their unjust cuts in hard working public servants’ pensions to pay for a deficit caused by the greed of the banks.
Davie Brockett, NEC of Unite the Union
Tommy Morrison, Secretary of Clydebank Trades Council
Iraq War from an Iraqi Communist Perspective
Over 10,000 private soldiers - mercenaries, still remain, and the largest "embassy" in the world.
The Iraq War and subsequent occupation was one of the defining events of the past decade. When it came to Iraqis slaughtered, the Americans and their allies blithely pointed out "we don't do body counts". The Lancet estimated 654,965 excess deaths related to the war, or 2.5% of the population, through the end of June 2006.
As of April 29, 2008, the UNHCR estimated that over 4.7 million Iraqis have been displaced, with 2.7 million within Iraq and 2 million outside.
The Iraqi Communist Party was one of the fiercest opponents of Saddam Hussein while he was still a western-backed dictator. This meeting was recorded in 2007 with one of these comrades. The recording of this fine meeting was thought to be lost but was recently rediscovered. It is newly uploaded here.
2011 - The Iraqi Communist Party is still technically legal but has faced many obstacles - from vote rigging against it in elections to the assassination of its militants. There were many arrests earlier in 2011 when it, as part of a wider alliance, it organised mass demonstrations in central Baghdad against corruption and the erosion of living standards and welfare. The trade union movement where it has many members has also faced legal bans over the past year.
Star Conference - New Powers for Scottish parliamentScottish Morning Star Conference - New Powers for Scottish parliament: Morning Session
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk Note: Morning Star conferences are broad left conferences bringing together progressive voices. These videos will be featured soon on a Scottish morning Star website. As such, these are not CPB videos. Pauline Bryan IntroductionGrahame Smith General Secretary STUC
Lynn Henderson Scottish Secretary PCS
Patrick Harvie MSPRichard Leonard GMB Scotland Political OfficerGlasgow Morning Star Christmas Bazaar raises £750 for the Fighting Fund.
Press Release - Glasgow Morning Star Christmas Bazaar raises £750 for the Fighting Fund. Bazaar organiser Jim Whiston says "despite the dreich weather and the challenge of new east end location, this year's event was a great success. £750 was raised towards the paper's future. Just as important though it raised the Star's profile in another one of the Glasgow's neighbourhoods".
Veteran labour activist Nan Park says “as the east end bazaar organiser for many years, I’m delighted to see its return to my local area. At this crucial time for our paper, it was pleasure to see the success of this year's event. All the usual attractions were there including the wheel of fortune!" The anger of workers can't be edited out - The battle begins tomorrow #n30.
Cries of illegitimacy come from right-wing blogger Guido Fawkes - presumably referring to the ballot results of the three big unions peppering the 30 per cent mark. Of course there is no recognition that the government gained power propped up by the Lib Dems with around 36 per cent of the public vote. More ridiculous was the Daily Mail's assertion that tomorrow's walkouts represent the start of "months" of strike action. How ironic that many lay members would welcome that if it were true, albeit for reasons of convincing the government to back down rather than "holding the country to ransom" as right-wing ranters would have us believe. And union leaders are portrayed as "bosses and barons" ordering their lot into an unjust and selfish fight, neglecting to explain that lay members voted for action and will be the ones putting themselves in harm's way to defend their hard-won pension rights. Some obscure non-unionised private-sector workers have been rolled out to play the role of kow-towing servants - grateful for their own measly pension arrangements while castigating public-sector workers for wanting to maintain a decent standard of living in retirement. What is missing from this coverage is the public-sector workers themselves. Who are these people who empty our bins, keep our elderly safe, heal our sick and protect our communities? Why would such people - doing jobs that engender a different kind of ethos to work, one of service and commitment - want to withdraw their labour on such a mass scale? I caught up with Unite members at a strategy meeting in Bristol recently to try to understand the reasons why. Branch secretary for Unite at Plymouth and city council Diane Beals doesn't consider herself a militant trade unionist. But the pension changes were just the latest pinch for an already undermined workforce.
"We have endured a three-year pay freeze, had terms and conditions slashed and overtime has been cut. "The pensions is just the next thing on the horizon." Anger is palpable in her region, she continues, but that doesn't always lead to an organised constructive response on November 30, she warns. "There are various pockets such as street-sweeping where members are angry. "But bluff and bluster is one thing. Whether they deliver on the day is another." However Beals believes ministers have misjudged public-sector workers and popular opinion, mistakenly seeing people like her and colleagues as a soft option to dish out austerity to. "They have assumed we would not take action," she says. "And the action itself will involve the public, as many schools will be hit. It will become a family day out." Despite 24 unions being involved in the action, media scare stories have revolved around teachers, UK Border Agency staff and council workers. But what about the Ministry of Defence? Jan Fellows, a supervisor for the MoD guard service, believes that Unite is mixing the old with the new in a positive way. "General secretary Len McCluskey is from the old school," she says with a beaming smile. "To me he is a leader like from the '70s and now he is passing all that knowledge on to us." But interestingly despite this enthusiastic endorsement of Unite's leader, she remains cautious about herself being branded a "militant" trade unionist. "The union has a role to play in building community opposition to the cuts," she says. "The public need to know that it's the ones in the union that need that backing and that November 30 is just the starter of what we are doing." Fellows points out that a unique facet of this action is how women will be affected by the pension changes. With so many women under the current system still failing to reach parity of pension with men in the public sector, government proposals will drive everybody to a new low. "I will end up paying £58 a month instead of 23 and end up losing £7,000 in my pension" she says. But Fellows retains her optimism in being able to fight back, highlighting history and the groundwork done by reps in branches. "We have being fighting since Pankhurst for pensions - to get equality with men," she says. "With new members who have problems we sit them down, show them past case works, grievances and how we have won bullying and harassment actions, showing that you can't lose your jobs 'just like that' because a manager says so. This is all part of mobilising people." Members are all too aware of their union's strong backing of the Labour Party and its current leader Ed Miliband. But what has also not gone unnoticed is his refusal to back the action this Wednesday. Secretary of Dorset County Council Paul Kimber believes that only trade unionists on the ground can convince Miliband to change tack. "Ed will see the power of feeling of trade union movement," he says confidently. "This will be one of many strikes and days of actions. If he is not convinced now he will be later." Although not calling for Unite to cease funding for Labour, he adds that fellow workers are becoming politicised elsewhere. "Trade unionists are working with all left parties, including the Communist Party. "There are other economic arguments and that is something that needs to be taken into the Labour Party." Whatever the coverage or media perspective on the day, a camera or a newspaper cannot edit out the anger of workers, of their families or those affected by the strike. The battle begins tomorrow. http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/112492 N30 - hear the truthAre public sector pensions "gold plated"? No! Do the general public support the strike? Yes! Strike November 30th
In a matter of hours millions will join a one-day strike over government plans for big wage cuts to fund lower pension payouts. And Mr McCluskey accused ministers of making the strikers scapegoats for an economic crisis of "epic proportions." "Fear stalks the global markets, and yet our political leaders seem incapable of steering a course out of the despair," he writes in the Morning Star. "At home, our government offers no hope to the millions on the dole. "Calls from the sensible majority to rein in economic sadism and instead grow the economy go unheeded, while inhuman ideas like slashing benefits and access to employment tribunals take hold." The Unite general secretary said of Wednesday's strike: "It may be about protecting the pensions of our members against the Osborne onslaught, but just as importantly it is about standing up for an alternative policy, an alternative society." And he leapt to the defence of the trade unionists subjected to increasingly hysterical propaganda that echoed the tactics of past governments.
"Today no-one can deny that it is unregulated, untamed capitalism to blame." The Unite leader hit out as the government tried desperately to maintain the impression that it remained in control. Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander claimed that striking unions were turning their backs on a "pretty good deal." He issued veiled threats that a supposed compromise offer would be withdrawn. It attempted to split older workers from their younger colleagues by offering them exemption from some of the changes, but it did not address the concerns of those facing doubled contributions, cut-price pensions and a higher retirement age. Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude again threatened to clamp down on workers' rights if the walkout goes ahead. But PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka retorted: "The latest threats about further curbs on strike laws and offers being withdrawn follow ridiculous claims earlier this week that the strike could cost £500 million and put jobs at risk. "The Cabinet Office Minister talks about a perverse incentive to strike, but what is perverse is that ministers are planning to raid public-sector pensions to pay for a deficit caused by the greed and recklessness of wealthy bankers. "Such erratic behaviour and wild allegations are becoming increasingly frequent from ministers who claim negotiations are ongoing even though they say they've made their final offer." Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls also entered the fray today, telling a newspaper: "I have huge sympathy with them." http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/112473 MORNING STAR URGENT FINANCIAL APPEAL
And if you do not respond, and soon, there may well not be a paper to support. It has been an eventful and in many ways successful four or five years for the Morning Star. In that period, we have gained formal support and a presence on our board of management from a solid majority of the organised trade union movement - a first that has astonished - and gratified - people throughout the labour movement. We have established an enthusiastic and successful readers and supporters group within Parliament. With the help of a consortium of sponsors we have established a new, brighter and bigger format of Morning Star that allowed us to maintain our circulation despite a swingeing price rise forced on us by ever-escalating costs. We have in many ways become the voice of the trade union movement, as witness the 53,000 copies of our biggest ever edition on March 26. Thanks to our friends and sponsors, we were able to give away 30,000 on the huge London demo - an edition that drew wide praise. But unlike the capitalist newspapers such successes do not ensure our survival and the paper is once again on the brink of financial meltdown. In one sense it’s easily understandable. No normal newspaper could ever withstand the half-century of commercial advertising boycott that ours has had to. The unions have done what they can, but a normal ratio of advertising to news copy in our pages has been denied us. And no newspaper exists on its cover price alone. So what has kept us alive throughout that half-century of boycott? You have. With appeals and donations and with a Fighting Fund while they are with us and with legacies when they pass on, readers have helped us to withstand a half-century of unremitting attack. But neither the paper nor its readers are immune from the world around us and times are hard. It costs around £1.4 million each year to produce the paper. The Fighting Fund aims and is budgeted to achieve £16,000 each and every month. But hard times mean that it hasn’t managed that for the better part of three years, falling short by an average of around £3,000 each month. And that makes a shortfall of over £100,000. The one reliable commercial advertising stream that the paper had - from insolvency practitioners - dried up when new Labour “deregulated” bankruptcy provisions. That has lost us over £45,000 each year, a cumulative loss of around another £130,000 And our forced reliance on an imperfect road transport system has resulted in losses of paper sales over that same three-year period that at the very least match yet another £100,000. These are not losses out of any well of profit. And we cannot sustain losses in the same way as the capitalist press. So we are now at a crossroads. Cashflow problems mean that we can pay the wages this week, but there is no certainty about next week. And, should we survive that week, the same problems will occur the week after. Our staff are not overpaid. None earn anything approaching the average industrial wage. We even have legacies pending that could see us through the worse of this crisis, but they must pass through the full legal cycle before we can touch them and that could be months - time we do not have. So it comes down to this. We need every supporter to rally round and back us, contribute what they can and take us through this immediate crisis not of our own making. We will need the efforts of every reader, of each readers and supporters group, every communist and every socialist and every trade unionist of goodwill. We must raise at least an additional £50,000 before Christmas - and the sooner the better - or our paper will not survive. And survive it must if it is to play the part that is needed during the resistance to the bankers’ putch that is, with the assistance of the Tories and their allies across Europe, being conducted agaist every working man and woman in Europe. Are you up for the struggle? Donate to the Morning Star’s Fighting FundIf you have enjoyed this article then please consider donating to the Morning Star’s Fighting Fund to ensure we can keep publishing your paper. Scottish Communist Congress: Scottish Communists vow to fight the cuts
Scottish secretary Tommy Morrison told Communist Party of Britain congress delegates that the role of the Scottish Parliament would have an "enormous potential to resist the cuts." He said: "Given that there has been no rioting in Scotland - there is a suggestion that worst excesses have been curtailed by the Scottish government." But Mr Morrison warned out: "SNP councils have been blaming Westminster when they have allowed terms and conditions to be imposed without the consent of trade unions." Instead Mr Morrison called on communists to help build local resistance to the cuts through trade councils as they could become "local champions for the community. "Communists seek to build existing groups in the working class that are grounded in the community. "Shop stewards are key and need to be directed by trades councils to be effective." Mr Morrison said that current anti-union laws meant workers could only take legal industrial action in direct "trade dispute. "But with November 30 many workers realise it is a proxy vote for a political strike against the government's general cuts agenda." "Our industrial work must be prioritised, creating new communist trade unionists in the mass movement. "We need to take our Marxist Leninist theory into the movement and help bring down the government before its term is up." CPB international secretary John Foster pointed out that the party must not forget about defending council housing from Tory attacks. "Scottish tenants' organisation has effectively gone out of existence," he said. "We need to try and revive it." "It will be essential for Unison, Ucatt and Unite to take this up."
Congress also paid tribute to 80-year-old guest of honour Mary Park who has been a member of the Communist Party and Young Communist League for 61 years. She warmly congratulated the YCL on its 90th anniversary.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/111371 Communist Party Britain Statement on LibyaCommunist Party Britain Statement on Libya, recorded Sunday 23 October 2011 as part of the Scottish Industrial Cadre School. CPB STATEMENT ON LIBYA In March 2011, the Communist Party of Britain opposed UN resolution 1973 (2011) for a no-fly zone over Libya as providing cover for external military intervention by imperialist powers. Eight months later, the CPB continues to oppose this intervention. A minimum of 30,000 people have been killed and much of the country's infrastructure has been destroyed as the conflict continues. Last week, Britain's Minister of State for Trade and investment, Lord Green, visited Libya to seek orders for British companies to rebuild this infrastructure and also to make bids for establishing new systems of health, education, telecommunications and banking. This well illustrates the primary objective of those external powers that have intervened: control over Libya's immensely valuable resources. For France, which led the intervention, the objective was also to consolidate its political grip over sub-Saharan Africa as well as to secure Libya's hydrocarbons. These constitute the largest reserve in Africa and provide up to 15 per cent of the global supply of high-grade petroleum prior to the war. Throughout, the CPB has supported the initiatives of the African Union to broker a peaceful settlement between the government of Col. Gaddafi and the opponents. In the estimation of the Communist party, the government of Col. Gaddafi was never socialist. Although it carried out some progressive social policies, it used repressive measures against all criticism and opposition, including banning the Libyan Communist Party. But the UN sanction for the intervention sets immensely dangerous precedents for military intervention in sovereign states in ways that are directly contrary to the principles of the UN Charter. Any government put in place by the NATO coalition and not by the Libyan people democratically can have no legitimacy. New Powers for the Scottish Parliament - REPORT OF SCOTTISH MORNING STAR CONFERENCE 9 OCTOBER
This call was echoed by the leader of the Scottish Green Party, Patrick Harvie MSP, who reminded delegates that his party supported Scottish independence. ‘But we don’t want a Scotland that stumbles forward using a failed economic model simply aspiring to be the tax haven of the north.’ Representing civil servants in Scotland, Scottish Secretary of the PCS, Lynn Henderson, returned to John Maclean’s vision of a Scottish republic. ‘Maclean’s target was the British empire. Today we face a world dominated by imperialism of a different kind – the influence exercised over the British government by the US and through the EU. We need unity to secure alternative power structures and this is why the coming industrial action on 30 November, now uniting twenty unions, is so important. The fight to protect pensions represents a fight for a society that values working people.’ For Richard Leonard, Political Officer of GMB Scotland, the key issue was not shifting powers from one parliament to another but shifting it from those who owned our wealth to those who produced it. Detailing the level of external big business control over the Scottish economy, Mr Leonard said the priority was to develop a class consciousness across both Scotland and Britain that could challenge this control. In a written statement to the conference, the SNP Chief Whip, Bill Kidd MSP, argued that any new powers decided by the Scottish people in a referendum had to be accompanied by the financial powers to implement them – in terms of funding for benefits, welfare and housing. ‘No less, we need the power not to fund wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that monster Trident that is still eating up billions of public money’. Labour MSP Neil Findlay challenged anyone to show that the problems of the last four years had somehow been created by borders rather than by bankers and financial speculators. ‘We want independence from unemployment, poverty, war and homelessness. Independence “in the EU” is a contradiction in terms. We don’t want simply to change one set of bankers for another. ‘ Tom Morrison, Scottish Secretary of the Communist Party, reminded delegates that it was the struggles to save the Upper Clyde shipyards in 1971-72 that led to the 1972 Scottish Assembly and the call for a Scottish Parliament. ‘It was to be a “workers’ parliament”, according to then general secretary of the STUC Jimmy Jack. Today we need to remember that democracy is only real for working people if it is sustained by class mobilisation.’ Summing up the conference, the Political Officer for UNITE Scotland, Jackson Cullinane, stressed the Scottish labour movement’s long support for Home Rule going back to James Keir Hardie. ‘The Scottish Parliament already has many powers that it has not used – because there has not been the political will to use them. There are also other others challenges that will require the united strength of the British working class movement such as external control of the economy and the undemocratic power of the EU. Raising class consciousness is the key to democracy and to Scottish devolution’. UCS Work In - John Foster in Clydebank40th Anniversary of the USC Work In - Lessons for today
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) was a British shipbuilding consortium created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde in Scotland. It entered liquidation amidst much controversy in 1971, leading to a famous "work-in" campaign at the company's shipyards, led by a number of Communist shop stewards, incuding Jimmy Airlie and Jimmy Reid. Professor John Foster who co wrote the seminal book on the Work - In, and is also a Communist, addressed a public meeting of Clydebank Trades Union Council in October 2011 to celebrate 40 years of the world famous Work In, and to draw out the lessons which we can learn from it today in our fight against another Tory government and their cuts agenda. and are well worth watching, including the contributions from Communist Shop Steward Davie Torrence and school student Billy Macalaister, as well as a full and detailed further discussion.
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"People are suffering already," she says.
Scottish communists yesterday put the anti-cuts campaign at the forefront of their agenda to help bring down the government at the next election.
"It's the obvious bridge between public sector and cuts in housing and community."
Opening this weekend’s Morning Star Scottish conference on new powers for the Scottish Parliament, STUC general secretary Grahame Smith stressed the importance of winning a progressive vision for Scotland. ‘The issue is not so much which powers are held but how they are used. Will they be used to create a more equitable and socially just Scotland? Will there be the political will to challenge the big business austerity agenda – including that imposed by the European Union – and to champion the kind of policies outlined in the STUC’s Better Way campaign ?’

