Reinvigorating hope for the future

In a time of upheaval in Europe, taking us back to the 1930s, we in Scotland need to rethink what future we want

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Red Paper on Scotland (EUSPB, 1975), edited by Gordon Brown and composed of 28 essays written by the likes of Tom Nairn, John McGrath, Robin Cook, Bob Tait, Vince Cable, and me. Would that the optimistic spirit which infused the writers half a century ago still coursed so strongly through the labour movement and Scottish Labour in particular as it meets in Glasgow for its annual conference.

Of course, the book did partly emerge as a spoiler reaction to the rise of the SNP, notably its great success at the October 1974 general election when it won 11 seats. But it was also a passionate plaidoyer for an extension of democracy, for giving working Scots far greater control over their lives - with "all state power emerging from the People" as the 1949 German constitution (Grundgesetz) puts it. In arguing for devolution it was making the case for socialist democracy.

Or, as Gordon Brown put it in his intro: "But the real opportunity which present events offer is of course something more. It is the challenge to force the pace towards socialism in Britain as a whole and to reinvigorate the labour movement in Scotland from the workplace and community outwards. Scotland's socialist pioneers, Hardie, Smillie, Maxton, Maclean, Gallacher, Wheatley and others knew that socialism would not be won until people were convinced of the necessity for social control. The Scottish Labour movement is uniquely placed today to convert the present discontent into a demand for socialism: we will fail only if we ignore the challenge."

Today, 50 years later, it's hard to find a trace of that passionate optimism. Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader, is offering to abolish peak rail fares in the run-up to his speech today (Feb 21) and "a new direction" for Scotland that reads less like a call to arms or path to prosperity than an old shopping list (free bus passes will remain along with the Scottish Child Payment, a path-breaking SNP achievement...). Talk aboot cauld kail.

Sarwar won't be able to pull ScoLab out of the current slough of despond and slump in support (from 35% in July 2024 to around 17% now), let alone win power at Holyrood 2026, by competing with John Swinney for the small change of social democracy. Nor, pace the Daily Record's esteemed political editor, does he simply need to "stand up for Scotland" between now and May next year. Playing a crumpled nat card is a recipe for being shunned, if not ridiculed.

Avanti popolo

We all know that Sarwar is trammelled by the need to be "on side" when it comes to Keir Starmer and the, shall we say unconvincing, Labour government in Westminster. Unconvincing because it appears devoid of ideas for revitalising the British economy and society, ending the slow decline towards impoverishment that voters experience every day and, most of all, providing hope - a genuine prospect of change, not the pro forma utterances we've heard in the past seven months.

So, almost inevitably, I'd suggest a Scottish campaign built around much greater devolution of power, including measures to take on a centralised, almost over-mighty executive at Holyrood and to decentralise responsibilities to local government via the long overdue and long-promised reform of council tax. Industrial strategy in more than name only should be foremost in economic policy and coupled with the revitalisation of industrial democracy. Why cannot ScoLab and others campaign for root-and-branch reform of the NHS, including thinking about its funding, rather than managing decline. And, yes, reach out to Europe for both ideas and collective action/solidarity in the face of the billionaire-funded Far Right and the new brutalists in the White House and elsewhere.

The prospect of another five years of po-faced policies and policy failures from a SNP-led government is hardly enticing whether for an old soixante-huitard like this correspondent or, one suspects, much of the Scottish populace. The country needs an injection of can-do thinking like that offered by those socialist pioneers a century ago. Perhaps Sarwar could commission a new Red Paper...