Scottish Update

FOR THE last few weeks, members and supporters of the National Liberal Party in Scotland have been hard at work distributing leaflets relating to the Scottish Constitutional Referendum.

The Referendum is scheduled to take place in Autumn, 2014. This is when Scotland will be asked to vote on its future. As we noted in a previous article (1) as it stands “it’s likely that Scots will only be able to choose from two options – should there be an independent Scotland or should it remain part of the union?”

The NLPs leaflet – For A Truly Democratic Scottish Referendum!– argues that there should be at least one other choice on the ballot paper. This should be Devo-Max, an idea that is gaining much support in Scotland .

The leaflet urges Scots to promote this idea of a third option to the Scottish Government, which is currently undertaking a public consultation on the draft Referendum Bill. To view the consultation paper, entitled Your Scotland, Your Referendum click here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0038/00386122.pdf

This consultation period will end on 11 May. This leaves about seven weeks for Scots to voice their concerns at the (current) lack of a real choice on the future ballot paper.

The National Liberal Party intends to make a submission to the Scottish Government in the very near future. In accordance with our principles, we will be arguing that the Scottish Constitutional Referendum should be as democratic as possible. Those interested in helping out with the NLPs submission should contact us at natliberal@aol.com as soon as possible. Look out for news on our submission in due course.

Also look out for news on our leafleting activities. In the meantime, we’d ask all of our members and supporters in Scotland – and even those who may be visiting the country before 11 May – to take and distribute as many of our leaflets as possible. Again, contact the National Liberal Party at natliberal@aol.com as soon as possible.

Whilst on the overall subject of Scotland, we have been sent a new paper called the Scottish Worker.

(The original Scottish Worker was produced by the Scottish Trades Union Congress and was published on a daily basis throughout the 1926 general strike. This modern version of Scottish Worker has been produced by the Solidarity Trade Union).

In view of the “relentless decline” of Scottish industry, Scottish Worker calls for a reversal of government policy which has seen the awarding of “the contract for the new Forth Bridge to a group that plans to source the steel supplies from China , Poland and Spain – rather than the Dalzell works in Motherwell!”

To avoid more lay offs and unemployment, it calls for resolute government action. EU competition regulations should be ditched and local and “national government should be allowed to choose local suppliers when awarding contracts even when a foreign bidder comes in at a slightly lower figure.”

And, like ourselves, Scottish Worker would also like an answer to this question: “If billions can be found by the government to bail-out the banks then why can public money not be used to support productive industries?”

The NLP is well-known for its anti-statist position – we are against too much state interference. However, we do agree that the state needs to step in here and sort out the Scottish economy.

We’d encourage our Scottish readers to examine and discuss these proposals. To get hold of issue 1 of Scottish Worker, simply e-mail solidaritygb@aol.com and ask them for your FREE pdf copy!

(1) http://nationalliberal.org/scottish-devo-max-leaflet-on-the-way-2