Good news in Scotland
Mr Barca | 02.05.2003 17:40
In dark times like these it is good to know that somewhere in the world there are decent devoted people aiming to make a difference, and (fingers crossed) actually succeeding. Three dominant factors have led to the growth and establishment of two very promising new political movements. Total, complete and utter disgust and dismay at the old elite is pushing people out to the fringes. Labour, once when they were our friends, the workers flocked in droves to their rallying red cry. Now under T*** B**** (in a vain attempt to woo those that despise and will always do so ) the Labour party has alienated its roots. People want alternatives. A charismatic man in the right place at the right time will always do well. The demand for a new left-wing party in Scotland has given Mr Tommy Sheridan nothing less than a golden opportunity. Looking at the leaders we have before us at the moment paints a pretty grim picture. The idea of saying things like you mean them seems remote to most.Then following up those seemingly empty words with actions, well don't even go there. However I feel that this is a man (I think, I hope, I bloody well pray) who I can put my trust in. I am not seeking to preach, just imform. If he turns tail, well there will be some very disappointed faces north of the border. Thirdly Labour, quite possibly may have shot itself in the foot over the new electoral system in Scotland. An amalgam of First Past the Post and Proportional Representation, it has allowed six socialists, seven greens, and four independent candidates to give the mainsteam the kick up the backside it has been requiring for too long. This is a good achievement, but it is only the beginning, Both the Greens and the SSP have an uphill battle against an establishment that will never truly accept them. It is however a start and a good one at that. That address for mugglenet, actually is a Harry Potter Web site. If interested the site for the Scottish Green Party is www.scottishgreens.org.uk whilst the Scottish Socialist Party has its site at www.scottishsocialistparty.org I only hope that these two parties will work together in the coming months in Holyrood as they will find not too many of the old guard too happy with such radical ideas and people amongst them.
Mr Barca
e-mail:
mjt10@st-andrews.ac.uk
Homepage:
http://www.mugglenet.com
Comments
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If they can do it Scotland....
02.05.2003 18:44
Of course an element of proportional representation helps small parties get established. It takes away the argument that a vote for a small party is a "wasted vote".
But is there perhaps a more longstanding reason why the Scottish working class has been generally to the left of the English throughout modern history? The early Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in the 1920s and the Independent Labour Party in the 1930s were most successfuk a getting MPs elected in Glasgow.
This is what Trotsky had to say on the subject:
"...It was no accident that the most resolute fighters for Chartism came out of the artisan layers that had been proletarianised by the onslaught of capitalism within two generations. Equally significant is the fact that the most radical elements in the modern British labour movement are most often natives of Ireland or Scotland (this rule does not of course extend to the Scotsman, [Ramsay] MacDonald. The combination of social and national oppression in Ireland, given the sharp conflict between agricultural Ireland and capitalist England, facilitated abrupt leaps in consciousness. Scotland entered on the capitalist path later than England: a sharper turn in the life of the masses of the people gave rise to a sharper political reaction. If Messrs. British 'socialists' were capable of thinking over their own history, and the role of Ireland and Scotland in particular, they would possibly manage to understand how and why backward Russia, with its abrupt transition to capitalism, brought forward the most determined revolutionary party and was the first to take the path of a socialist overturn..."
From:
English