#RIC2013 Reports
Hope everyone enjoyed #RIC2013!
Lucy Brown on the ‘Democratic Deficit in Working Class Communities’ workshop:
Jean Urquhart MSP – inspired by RIC, need a conference in every community. We need to break with the old way of doing politics – “the leaflet is not going to do it”. Telling communities – just do it. We need to target people who are hard to reach – no one in Scotland should be hard to reach. We need to think really creatively about how to get them to register to vote – the missing million. We need to find them, we need a substantive turnout at the polls.
Ross Greer, Yes Scotland – More about strategy, movement built up by non party political people; local groups across the country. Enthusiasm from Yes unparalleled – No campaign not motivated in same way. Missing million need to be persuaded they have power to do something – not just about voting, people need to be involved in campaign. Huge role for door-knocking, lots of branches to get involved in. Talking to voters is most important thing we can do.
Zara Kitson – tackling democratic deficit is about connecting with people, engaging with lived experience. Need to get people to connect as a community, need to inspire folk to discuss politics at community level. People are apathetic about voting; people are disillusioned; even basic information about how to register to vote is missing. Need to give people something to believe in. Need to build capacity for folk in communities – independence creates an opportunity for that. The radical democracy starts now – we need to give people voice right now. Need people from communities to take grassroots action – folk respond to people who look and sound like them.
Liam McLaughlan – challenges Iain Duncan Smith to return to Easterhouse and look folk in the eye as he defends Tory welfare reforms. People alienated by political system – it doesn’t work for them. Their alienation suits the ruling coalition. And the Labour Party is no longer part of working class – we need to get this message out. We have silent majority who could change outcome of referendum – and it’s RIC’s message that will motivate them. Plant the seed and get folk to ask, ‘is this the best we can do?’
Stuart Rodger on Europe Against Austerity workshop:
The workshop on Uniting Europe against austerity begins with a speaker from Catalonia saying they are watching the Scottish indy referendum closely. He says the Catalan independence movement is similar in that it is not ethnically motivated – and that it’s driven by a desire for social justice. He says the EU should be reformed to take it back from financial industries.
A speaker from the Basque country echoes the previous speaker’s criticism of the European Union, pointing out that a nation’s budget must be passed on to the EU commission for approval. He says that independence offers a chance for Scotland to raise its progressive voice at EU level. A representative from Greek anti-austerity party Syriza argues that the EU should preserved so the european left can use it to tame globalized capitalism.
Final speaker strongly criticises the EU’s ‘stability and growth pact’ which places limits on government spending levels. She explains that if countries do not have monetary independance they cannot devalue currency to become more competitive – so they must devalue internally in wages. Could this underline case for Scottish currency? The consensus seems to be that an independent Scotland cannot join the EU without voicing strong dissent about the status quo.
John Davidson on the empowering trade unions workshop:
Another full to capacity room hears passionate contributions from trade unionists arguing for independence.
Bryan Simpson (unite) opens things up by stating that we should stand squarely behind Grangemouth workers and their convenor, Stephen Deans. “We need to win back our class to the concept of collectivism.” He went on to explain how Jimmy Reid, the famous leader of the UCS work-in, supported independence not out of nationalism but for the right of workers to self-determination.
PCS NEC member Cheryl Gedling then spoke about the need to credible meaning that ‘we need to be seen to consult our members in an open and democratic way’. She went on to state that the better together campaign had failed to offer nothing but further cuts and a ‘dystopian vision of corporate hegemony’.
Finally Professor Gregor Gall asked the unions: ‘Are we brave enough to reject Better Together and go beyond project fear?’. We should be arguing for a Scotland that will make workers better off because polls have shown that the 33% in favour of Indy becomes 66% if people believe they would be as little as £500 a year better off. He finished by talking about the need for democratic worker input at board level to ensure unions were proactive rather than just reactive.
Michael Gray from National Collective on the middle plenary:
The second plenary focused on ‘Hope: What a radical Scotland will look like’.
Chaired by Sarah Beattie Smith from the Scottish Green Party the session condensed the variety of political opportunities and choices that will be available to an independent Scotland.
Christine McKelvie MSP set out her hopes for empowerment at a community level. She focused upon the work and successes of the Jimmy Reid Foundation in setting out its ‘Common Weal’ vision. This is a vision for a high wage economy – where strong pay and conditions drives demand for small businesses and bridges the vast inequality gap. A written constitution is an opportunity to enshrine both what rights people have and what democratic opportunities exist for citizens. This is of particular important for Women, in Christine’s view. Compared to the Scandinavian economies – and the manner in which they constitute economic rights – Scotland has a long way to go. The economic contribution of Women in Norway is far greater than the contribution of oil resources. There is hope.
Patrick Harvie spoke of the opportunity to reshape the political culture of Scotland. That change, that hope, is taking hold. The challenge, in Patrick’s speech, was two fold. Firstly, to engage with the millions of people for whom politics remains a source of apathy. The idea that politics can change people’s lives is a powerful idea; and it hasn’t been widespread in the UK is for generations. Propelling that message forward is key to success in the referendum and beyond. The second issue relates to after the referendum. For Patrick, that is the greatest opportunity and challenge. “The political culture of the UK is dead on its feat – its bankrupt. But if we want something better we are going to have to work even harder after the referendum.”
Professor Ailsa McKay from Glasgow Caledonian University set out the case for placing a new economic framework at the heart of an independent Scotland. The discipline, Ailsa said, is in crisis. Too often is the role of Women and social prosperity ignored within the economic model. The public sector, for instance, can be the engine behind economic growth. The Scottish Government, in contrast, has made some steps forward. Gender has, in certain key areas, been placed within their economic model. This is a reason for hope.
Economist Rafi de Santos, previously of Goldman Sachs, set out the financial foundations of a successful Scottish economy. Key aspects included: 1) a diversification towards renewables, 2) a national investment bank, 3) building far more sustainable and affordable housing, and 4) a realignment of the taxation system. These factors – even when based upon a conservative $80 a barrel oil estimate – would make Scotland “one of the richest countries in the world”. This would also provide an opportunity for Scotland to lead international trade delegations to Latin America. Not only is another Scotland possible. Another world is possible.
Séan Duffy from the ‘From Greed to Need’ workshop:
In a room packed to the gills with positive voices for Scottish independence Gerry Hassan, Niki Seth-Smith, Prof. David Miller, and James Foley expanded on the case for opposing neoliberalism in an independent Scotland.
Gerry Hassan told the audience that the past 20-30 years have seen an acceptance of neoliberal ideas and a deliberate social apartheid in education. Only 19 students from St Andrews were working class last year, and only 7 at the Glasgow School of Art. We cannot have a social democracy of the comfy, it must be a redressing of power which limits working people.
Niki Seth-Smith followed, offering hope and admiration for this opportunity to strike a blow for the neoliberal political class. ‘Scotland has an opportunity to break the post imperial mindset’ resounded through the room as Niki explained that those who say Scotland would be abandoning the rest of the UK are conflating the British state with the British people.
David Miller penultimately addressed the true source of power in the Scottish state; the transnational corporate elite. We have to ask regardless of independence whether corporations will rule or will power come to the people who are consistently victim to their excesses and negligence?
James Foley concluded by stating that neoliberalism was once a niche ideology yet now has become a social order. It contains vested interests which dominate politics and manage the production of ideas. Remember that Scottish land ownership is the most concentrated in Europe and after devolution inequality rose here. Neoliberalism spreads through fear but in this effort we should not abandon utopian ideas, we should not fear our imagination.
The discussion moved to the floor where various delegates remarked that:
– Scotland has an internationalist duty to call for independence
– The public debt accumulated by state apparatuses are being ignored and we must include this in our analysis
– Many in the rest of the UK will see Scottish independence as a shining example of how we can chip away at the power base of the Westminster elite, but this must also occur at Holyrood; independence or not.
A brilliant discussion from an impassioned crowd. #RIC2013 is clearly bringing together voices from across the left, and for once they seem to agree on what needs to be done. A Yes vote is the strongest hope for radical change, but there is work to be done both now and after September 2014.
John Davidson PCS Group Secretary on the Eliminating Poverty Workshop:
A packed workshop heard from Peter McColl, Edinburgh Uni Rector, on the need to define social security as a ‘benefit for all’. Citing the examples of the NHS, education and even the BBC, he outlined how difficult it is for post-war governments to cut universal services. The ‘citizens income’ could become a defensible social security system, defining minimum standard for all.
Oxfam’s Katherine Trebeck then spelled out the pernicious paradox in Scotland, where the social assets of family and friends are needed to prop up the hyper mobility required by call centre workers. The very industry that is destroying family lives relies on the family to cover essential child care to allow folk to work at the drop of a hat. We need a new measure of success other than GDP.
Susan Archibald ended the top table speakers by arguing for welfare not warfare, recounting that one of the cases she worked recently involved a woman having to walk 23 miles to a foodbank for a sandwich only to be told she had he wrong voucher. At the same time, the bedroom tax vote was a ‘disgrace’. Every Westminster party ignores working class people.
Mike Williamson on the Green New Deal workshop:
Sarah starts us off with the environmental challenges facing Scotland in the near future. We need radical measures to reduce carbon emissions and capture the carbon we’ve already released. But she says the necessary change isn’t possible under capitalism – we need planned change. Some say that this isn’t practical but what’s really not practical is continuing as we are! No-one questions the need for a planned approach to fighting a war, but the threat from climate change is as great as that of any war! The changes we can make are good for societal equality too!
Janet Moxley from the Greens tells us that the Green New Deal is closely tied up with rural development. There are vast levels of poverty and underdevelopment in rural areas, and these areas need an economic diversification, investment in jobs, infrastructure and land reform. Lots of people aren’t connected to gas or the national grid. These problems need local solutions!
In Germany around 50% of renewables are community-owned, and the communities own the land! We need community ownership of land and renewables, and nationalisation of larger projects, including infrastructure to export renewable energy. This will also stop the skimming of capital from rural areas into offshore accounts. We need a right to buy for tenant farmers.
Lastly, James from NEF says Scottish independence is good for anyone in Britain who wants to see radical change. A noisy and wealthy fringe is muddying the public conception of climate change. We can tackle climate change without having to bang on about it all the time. Tackling climate change means creating good, secure jobs! In Germany a nationally owned investment bank has invested in energy programmes, insulating people’s homes, reducing energy bills and creating 200k jobs along the way.
The recovery so far has been mostly in property prices for the rich in London. There is plenty of money out there, and there’s no economic case for austerity in a recession. A government that wanted to get out of a recession would increase spending, and the Green New Deal is how we kill two birds with one stone. Right now the only game in town is what happens in one square mile in London, and that means we’re going to have another crash.
The banking system is not set up in a way which might help community groups set up renewables projects or other investments in the real economy. It is beholden only to the property and finance sectors. Independence matters because anything you can do to break up the state which serves that square mile in London is a necessary step not just in Scotland but for the rest of us too!