Scottish politics is ‘at an impasse’, according to a new multi-authored discussion paper which Democratic Left Scotland is distributing at The Break-Up of Britain?, a major conference being held today in Edinburgh.
Notes at an impasse (click here to access) states that ‘the prospect of a new Scottish state currently seems more remote than it has done for some years’, whilst observing that ‘the cause of independence continues to generate hope for many Scots’.
Notes at an impasse
· Argues that ‘there is currently no immediate and viable way forward’ to realising the ambition of independent statehood which many Scots continue to support as an ‘exit route’ from the ‘social and political degradation’ resulting from deindustrialisation and successive UK governments’ economic failures
· Considers current efforts to find ways forward by pro-independence forces, from the SNP to campaigns including the Scottish Independence Foundation and Europe for Scotland
· Assesses the prospect of Labour making significant gains at the upcoming UK general election, both in Scotland and south of the border, but notes that the optimism and confidence of Labour activists sits oddly with the fact that ‘many of those who intend to vote for the party have the most limited expectations’ in terms of what Labour will deliver
· Positions all of these current developments as the current expressions of ‘a much deeper impasse, structured over many decades’, noting how the factors shaping this situation were identified by the major Scottish radical thinker Tom Nairn, who died in January 2023 (though there is debate about the extent to which Nairn’s famous arguments about the determinants of British history do stand up to criticism)
Notes at an Impasse rails against the ‘grotesque promotion of Enoch Powell’s paranoid fears’: it is not only the former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman who has been guilty of this, but a number of politicians who remain in government. And the document is scathing about the effects of Brexit - ‘no highway to a national renaissance, but a development disastrous in terms of immediate costs and lost opportunities for many in the small business class from which Conservatives once drew more-or-less unfailing support’.
The discussion document concludes that, as in the recent Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, it is inevitable that upcoming contests for votes ‘will see displays of party tribalism and the trading of contrasting immediate positions: “your party’s tragic: our party’s magic!”’.
Nevertheless, it argues that, for many progressively minded people who support and are involved in different parties across Scotland, there’s appreciation that ‘many of our key challenges and questions are shared’ and urges ‘flexibility and experimentation across political boundaries, aimed at crystallising and promoting shared values’.
The Democratic Left Scotland website will carry a number of discussion pieces in response to Notes at an Impasse. Click here for the first of these, which raises questions about the ‘theses’ on British politics which Tom Nairn developed with Perry Anderson. If you would like to contribute to the ongoing debate, do get in contact.
Published 18 November 2023.