RIC Welcome Support of SYRIZA for Yes Vote

The Radical Independence Campaign has welcomed a statement by SYRIZA, the Coalition of the Left in Greece, expressing their support for a Yes vote in Scotland’s independence referendum.

SYRIZA are currently favourites to win the next election in Greece, topping the opinion polls, and narrowly missed out on winning the last general election in June 2012, winning over 25% of the vote.

The Statement from SYRIZA Scotland can be read in full below, key points include:

  • That the Scottish Left has played a key role in the independence movement to ensure it has been an internationalist campaign linked to a rejection of decades of neo-liberalism and social injustice.
  • That the people of Scotland “have a right to a better future” after decades of Thatcherite “economic and humanitiarian onslaught” from Westminster and that the referendum process has been a democratic process of the highest order.
  • That SYRIZA stand with the left of the independence movement “that have taken this opportunity to regroup and take steps towards greater unity” and look forward to standing with us, as we stand with them, to create a peoples Europe.

Jonathon Shafi, a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign, said of the statement from SYRIZA:

“This is a very important statement in support of Scottish independence and the left of the independence movement in Scotland as SYRIZA have been a leading light for the left in Europe against austerity and privatisation.

For a party of that size and magnitude to stand alongside the people of Scotland who see a better future through the platform of a Yes vote, with the explicit awareness that the left has been able to regroup and rebuild in Scotland through the independence campaign, is of great significance. It is a sign of how the left in Scotland can continue to grow in importance after a Yes vote.

We call on all trade unionists, campaigners and social movements across the world to support the people of Scotland on Thursday as we get closer to independence.

The Radical Independence Campaign will continue building international links with the European left to build a European movement against austerity and for social and economic justice for the people of Europe.”

Statement by SYRIZA Scotland’s Members’ Organisation 14/9/14:

Only a few days remain before the referendum for Scottish independence. Regardless of the outcome, the referendum is about to turn a new page in the political life of the Scottish people.

SYRIZA Scotland’s Members’ Organisation, has been in close contact with the forces of the Left in this country. We have come to the conclusion that the Scottish Left has made a very significant contribution to the campaign in favour of Scottish independence, making its own mark in the process.

The forces of the Left have contributed significantly to the fact that this campaign never deteriorated into any version, mild or other, of ethnic nationalism. Nor could it have been otherwise, given that the Scottish people are deeply anti-racist and the Scottish left is deeply internationalist!

The Left has linked the struggle for Scottish independence to the defeat of neoliberalism in Great Britain and more broadly in the European continent. It has linked that struggle to solidarity and unity with the progressive forces in the countries of the European Union. It has contributed to laying the path towards the peaceful coexistence of the peoples of Europe; to deepening democracy in the old Continent. The Scottish Left’s contribution has been to link the struggle for independence with the defence of the welfare state and education against the attack that social rights are currently being subject to by the Westminster government. It has linked that struggle with a politics of peace and co-operation among peoples and strengthened the voice of those pro-independence forces who commit to the immediate withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Scottish soil.

Over the last few days the opponents of independence have attacked the YES Campaign relentlessly instigating fear and stressing the risks involved. It should be kept in mind that the Scottish Referendum is far more than a democratic procedure of the highest order; it also constitutes a historic commitment on the part of both sides. Upholding all that has been agreed and contributing to conducting this process in a smooth and fair way is as important as fully respecting the outcome.

In any case the people of Scotland that have been subject to the economic and humanitarian onslaught of Thatcherism and the neoliberal policies of the Cameron government, deserve better. They have the right to a better future.

We firmly stand by the struggle of the forces of the Scottish Left, which have taken this opportunity to regroup and take steps towards greater unity. We welcome that in its turn, the Scottish Left stands alongside us in our struggle for the common future of the peoples of Europe.

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