Alex Salmond wants to split our country into two new countries, Scotland and “England and Wales”. So shouldn’t we all have a say in our country’s future? Why should it be restricted to those living in Scotland?
But if there is a referendum only in Scotland, it is right to vote in that referendum – no to break-up. It is also right to vote in a referendum on leaving the EU (if we get one) – yes to leaving the EU.
In a recent poll, support for break-up (not “independence” by any genuine definition of the word – (see page 9) in Scotland is down to 28 per cent, with 48 per cent against. But expect dirty tricks as Salmond gets increasingly desperate.
We must reject divisive identity politics, whether they sets Scottish people against English, black against white, or Muslim against Christian. Most Scots oppose government policies, not the identities of prime ministers.
Scotland, Wales and England form one island, one country, one working class, and have been for over 300 years. Break-up would mean the break-up of the British working class, solely to the benefit of the employing class.
Yet some in our unions, of the so-called “left”, back Salmond’s tartan Tories, who would divide the British working class. The same people oppose the British workers’ nationalism which would keep our working class united in the face of the capitalist class’s attacks. ■