SSP backs Yes vote in independence referendum
The Executive Committee of the Scottish Socialist Party has backed a Yes vote in the proposed independence referendum and set out its reasons in the statement below:
THE POSITIVE CASE FOR INDEPENDENCE
[Scottish Socialist Party statement on the Independence Referendum – Jan 2012]
Scotland’s New Year hangover had barely subsided when David Cameron gate-crashed the country’s Independence debate effectively detonating the inherent conflict between Westminster and Holyrood, between ‘legality’ and ‘political reality’, between an unpopular unionist Coalition in London with no mandate and a popular nationalist Government in Edinburgh.
The battle lines are now being drawn in a titanic political struggle with no quarter given or expected.
But there can be no doubt that the main event in Autumn 2014 will feature an epic contest to answer one key question - will the people of Scotland be better off as part of the United Kingdom or in an Independent nation?
The Scottish Socialist Party is in no doubt about the answer.
We have been committed to an independent socialist Scotland since our inception in 1998. We are convinced that working people will be economically, socially, politically and culturally better off if we are able to make our own decisions, control our own economy, direct our own resources and determine our own destiny in the world.
We favour a bold referendum with one straight question – Independence Yes or No?
We believe the elected Scottish Parliament should oversee the referendum process to ensure it is carried out fairly and democratically. And we have, for the record, long advocated that 16 and 17 years olds should be enfranchised.
The SSP is convinced that if the Independence movement takes its case round the country with enthusiasm and energy, to every community, town and village, then we can win a majority in the 2014 referendum .
We are hugely encouraged by evidence which shows that an independent Scotland would not countenance the appalling levels of inequality, child poverty and fuel poverty which continue to blight our country, would never have accepted the privatisation of our hospitals, schools, prisons or other vital public services.
We would not have sent Scottish soldiers to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, would not allow Trident nuclear missiles to be stationed on our soil.
The Scottish Socialist Party will campaign energetically and with great enthusiasm for a Yes vote. We helped to found the Scottish Independence Convention in 2004 and we continue to work within it towards maximising support for that Yes vote.
Our goal is an independent socialist Scotland, a modern democratic republic. We believe such a Government will be able to ensure the sovereignty and autonomy of the Scottish people is ranked above the aims of British Imperialism and international capital.
That commitment to socialism and democracy is what sets us apart from the other parties.