SSP Stirling Public Meeting 29th January - "Hear How a Yes Vote Will Benefit You"

On Wednesday the 29^th of January in the Cowane Centre in Stirling, the Stirling SSP branch held a public meeting named “Hear How a Yes Vote Will Benefit You” to discuss how a Yes vote in the upcoming independence referendum will benefit the people of Scotland. The Chair of the public meeting, Hugh Cullen, the branch chair, said that the event was to allow people to hear from panelists giving their own vision for an independent Scotland, and how it would benefit ordinary people in Scotland.

The panelists included: Lorna Binnie, the chair of the Falkirk Trades Council and the PCS Union, on the STUC equality committee, also an activist for Women for Independence, Johnathan Shafi, the co-founder and Convener of the Radical Independence Campaign, and Kevin McVey, the national secretary of the SSP.

The first panellist to speak was Lorna Binnie. She opened by saying she would be delivering her vision on how independence would benefit women and trades’ unions. She remarked that independence gives Scotland the power to make choices which would benefit women and women’s rights. For her, the fight for women’s rights is driven by culture, and independence would help to deliver that cultural change to provide a boost for gender equality. Lorna said that, “A women’s vote is a women’s voice”, and that it is imperative that women vote Yes in the upcoming referendum in order to voice their opinions to Westminster that they are not fully representing women.

An example she used to show how greater control of powers for Scotland benefits women is the track record the Scottish Government has with women’s rights, compared to the Westminster government. From her personal experiences, she remarked that the Scottish government is far more in touch with women in Scotland than Westminster, and meets with the STUC Equality Committee she chairs regularly. The gender pay gap and the severe lack of women in the board room in the UK was also an example she used to show how the UK is out of touch with women's rights.

In regards to the Scottish economy, Lorna used the small nation of Brunei to exemplify how Scotland’s economy will be better off under independence. Visiting Brunei, she found the wealth per head of the small nation a powerful example of how Scotland would be a more successful country per head under independence; it is a well-known fact that Brunei is regularly close to the top of the table when it comes to GDP per head. To sum up this point, she said “small can be successful too”, with independence giving a small nation such as Scotland more control over its domestic affairs.

In the second part of her vision for an independent Scotland, Lorna gave her view on how independence will benefit the people of Scotland from a Union perspective. A more stable pension system and a fairer progressive tax system are aspects she mentioned would benefit the people of Scotland, as anti-trade union laws passed by Westminster would no longer affect Unions in Scotland. She argued that a stronger presence of Unions in an independent Scotland would lead to fairer wages for workers, more reliable pension schemes, and a fairer distribution of wealth; as workers would have more collective bargaining powers.

The second panellist to speak was Johnathan Shafi, the Co-founder and convenor of the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC). His vision for an independent Scotland which would benefit the people of Scotland stems from how Scotland no longer being aligned to the British State would do away with such issues as wealth inequality and the “rolling back of everything working people have won since 1945”. He used the example of nuclear weapons being transported to Scotland in the dead of night to show how the British State is taking Scotland for granted and covertly working against our interests; as weapons the majority of Scotland do not want are being secretly transported through Scotland when no-one is looking. 

Shafi explained how the wealth of the top 200 in the UK since 1980 increasing 100 times is no accident, but a direct consequence of the neo-liberal policies of the UK government which are actively damaging the prospects for working people in Scotland. He also explained how the UN recently launching an inquiry into how food is distributed in the UK due to the rapid growth of food banks, shows that Westminster is not working for Scotland. 

He also said how the UK government is utilising the historic tactic of dividing the people of Scotland against each other, to minimise resistance to their policies; such as the stigmatisation of immigrants and those on benefits. To him, “independence in of itself isn’t a magic wand”, but is a tool the Scottish people can utilise in order to make the right choices to reverse the damaging neo-liberal policies of UK governments which have brought in austerity. 

The third and final panellist to speak was Kevin McVey, the national secretary of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), he gave the vision of how independence and the SSP will benefit the people of Scotland. He started off by utilising the example of how when he was driving through Glasgow and went from Bearsden, a leafy middle-class suburb, to Drumchapel, he noticed a stark wealth-divide present in Scotland. He followed this example by saying that such economic inequality isn’t an accident, but is the direct result of neo-liberal economic policies handed to Scotland by Westminster.

He remarked that he was a former Labour member as was kicked out of the party, something he is proud of, as it went from being a left-wing party, to now a centre-right party devoid of its Socialist roots. He said how the recent announcement from Labour of increasing tax for the wealthy, is but a tiny measure that will not do nearly enough to help working people in Scotland. 

He went on to say how there is clear evidence which shows how support for independence is highest amongst those who are the most deprived in Scotland. He explained how this was due to the British state failing millions of people across Scotland leaving them with no support for the status-quo. McVey then explained how “the largest growth of poverty is amongst those working”, and how independence would fix this issue as we would have greater control over who controls the wealth in Scotland, and how it is distributed in order to benefit the most deprived and those working.

The evening was rounded off by questions being taken from the audience. These included questions on how the Labour party would be able to get back in touch with its roots in an independent Scotland, how a socialist government such as the SSP in an independent Scotland would control the economy, and if independence is primarily a class issue.

Therefore in conclusion it can be seen that from the views given at the public meeting, an independent Scotland really has a chance of benefiting the people of Scotland. Greater control over our own powers will ensure women and Trades' Unions get proper representation in society. It will ensure an end to illegal wars and governments we didn't vote for. And it will also ensure that we can make the right choices to reverse the damaging neo-liberal policies given to us by Westminster throughout the years so we can shrink wealth inequality, and make sure working people are delivered the fair chances in life they deserve.