The SNP’s promised ‘independence convention’ finally opened its doors on 24 June. The event was built on the promise that the party and movement for independence would finally work out a strategy for advancing the nationalist cause.
Far from this, however, the conference was a routine exercise in the political deception that the SNP leaders have consistently pulled on rank-and-file party members and independence supporters since the 2014 referendum.
Platitudes
The convention was initially billed as part of Nicola Sturgeon’s plan for a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence, with the former First Minister seeking endorsement from the movement for her proposal. This was likely an attempt to hedge any responsibility for the plan, and to push back against MPs and MSPs who criticised it.
With Sturgeon’s surprise resignation in February, however, the convention was postponed, and its raison d’etre was thrown into doubt.
Sturgeon’s replacement, Humza Yousaf, was quickly cast as the ‘continuity’ candidate in the SNP leadership election. His performance at the convention served as a confirmation of this, both in terms of style and substance.
Yousaf’s speech was replete with all the usual platitudes, with appeals to Scotland’s “great people”, natural resources, business community, and potential wealth. In his opinion, an independent Scotland is ready to be the “most successful [i.e. profitable] country in the entire world”!
If this sounds like a report to shareholders, that’s exactly what it is. Who will be convinced by this charade?
Where next?
The special convention’s headline announcement was, of course, that the SNP stands for Scottish independence – as if there was any doubt over this.
But the real question on activists’ minds – how this will be achieved – was left unanswered. All Yousaf had to offer is a confused re-hash of Sturgeon’s non-strategy of begging Westminster to grant a second referendum.
Whether the party is going for the de facto referendum at the next UK general election has been left deliberately vague.
The new First Minister pledged that the SNP will put the independence question “front and centre” of its campaign, with a manifesto that includes in the first line: “Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country.”
Whether this will be the only policy in the manifesto – as initially outlined by Sturgeon in her plans – is very much in doubt. Any firm decision over this strategy, meanwhile, has been postponed to the SNP conference in October.
Taken for a ride
Again, the can is kicked down the road. Momentum in any deliberate direction is deferred or delayed. The movement is all wound-up, but with nowhere to go.
Yousaf’s words were clearly calculated to maintain ambiguity over what strategy he will pursue to try and pull the wool over the eyes of independence activists in the coming months.
The SNP leader was bold enough to proclaim that we are “within touching distance” of independence.
But the harsh reality that activists must confront is that they are no closer than in 2014. Rather, they are being taken for a ride by the bourgeois clique that controls the Scottish government, the SNP, and the broader independence movement.
Mirage
Decrying the Tories’ anti-democratic veto against self-determination for Scotland, the First Minister rhetorically demanded: “You say this is a voluntary union, then prove it!” But when has anyone ever seriously claimed this about the ‘United’ Kingdom?
Moreover, precisely this notion was declared dead by judges with the SNP’s failed challenge in the Supreme Court last year; and Nicola Sturgeon said as much at the time.
Humza wishes desperately to hit the reset button and revive the political formula of the Sturgeon era: shadowboxing the Tories over referendums, while selling a vision of a Scottish utopia.
The day-to-day policy of the Scottish government, meanwhile, diverges further and further from this independent mirage, with the SNP in Holyrood overseeing cuts to public services and social decline.
Decoupling
Support for independence is also decoupling itself from the SNP, as the party remains mired in scandals, with its name blackened by a (albeit likely bogus) police inquiry.
While support for a hypothetical ‘Yes’ vote remains high at around 48-50%, some polls have put the SNP neck-and-neck with Labour at around 35%.
Yousaf is keenly aware of the dangerous position that his party is in, as he attempts to ride out the storm.
He has called on the movement to hold onto the hope – or fantasy – of “the moment independence is declared”, the hour of deliverance, and not bother themselves with worldly affairs.
As a reward for this faith, the promise of the Scottish people carving out their own future is held out. This is a false promise, however – now and in the future. All this talk of the people being ‘sovereign’ is an illusion unless there is a clear break with the capitalist system.
Revolutionary road
Under capitalism, we have a dictatorship of the bankers and bosses. It is they, in their boardrooms, who call all the shots.
Yet the working class has the power to decide everything – in potential, at least. Across the world, through bitter experience, workers are becoming conscious of their strength, and are becoming more organised to wield it.
This is the meaning of the class struggles that are erupting in all countries, including Scotland and the rest of Britain.
While Humza Yousaf and the SNP tops run a pantomime independence campaign, leading the movement into a dead end, workers and youth – who once put their faith in these figures – are forging a different path forward.
This is the road of class struggle and revolution: against the Tories, the capitalists, and their system. Those politicians who prove unwilling and unable to embark on this course must be left behind.
