Stephen Low misses a couple of crucial points. While he may well be correct about similarities in attitudes between people in Scotland and parts of England his observations, at least as they are reported here, fail to take account of the fact that Scotland is not a region but a nation. There is no mention either of the fact that the people of Scotland have translated those attitudes into action in a way that people in the north of England have not. By the use of democratic power we have pushed the Tories to the fringes of our politics; punished Labour for decades of taking us for granted; reconvened our Parliament; and put in place a government which more faithfully reflects those attitudes we share. People down south, in the meantime, have continued to put their faith in the old British parties and in old British politics. If people elsewhere really want change then they will have to fight for it and vote for it just as we did in Scotland. If this article does not do Mr Low a serious injustice the he shows evidence of an attitude that is depressingly common among professed socialists in Scotland as elsewhere. It is an attitude which holds that, if social justice cannot be achieved for everybody everywhere, then it should not be enjoyed by anybody anywhere. It is both the excuse and the reason for British Labours failure. It is a charter for inaction. If the people of England who share Scotlands attitudes had the strength of their convictions then they would have rejected the Tory/Labour/LibDem hegemony long before now in favour of a genuine progressive political force. That such a force does not exist in any tangible form does not excuse them because, if the will was there, that force would arise spontaneously. Perhaps theyre not ready. But we need not wait for them. They will find their own way.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 15:10:04 +0000
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