07.09.1995

Bravehearts and Labour cons

SNP rallies behind William Wallace

BY ALL accounts Braveheart is a romping good yarn about national freedom. Forget for a moment that Robert de Bruce was a Norman conqueror, intent on imposing the same kind of rule in Scotland as William the Conqueror had established in England. In modern times it raises the question of Scottish impatience with British rule.

Both the SNP and the Labour Party are trying to use this very widespread dissatisfaction for their own ends. Mel Gibson, who stars in the new film, has attempted to distance himself from the SNP’s cinema leafleting campaign on the grounds that he “didn’t make the film for any kind of political use like that at all. I wanted to make a good film, a good story. It shouldn’t be used for political gain or loss.”

Meanwhile, the devolution plans of Labour and its Liberal Democrat partners in the Scottish Constitutional Convention are nearing completion and are being correctly criticised for leaving Scotland firmly under Westminster control. For Blair, devolution is merely a ploy to get Scots “to band together and turn their fire on the real enemy, which is the Tories.” If that is his idea, what relevance does devolution have under a Labour government? Except perhaps he needs Scottish and Welsh votes to win the election and is offering a concession he has no belief in.

Theoretically anything that separates the working class of England, Wales and Scotland - especially nationalism - is a bad thing. But Scotland and Wales have become increasingly unhappy with the way they are governed. Nationalism is gaining ground amongst all sections of society. In such circumstances the working class needs to establish an independent position to rescue the anti-state and democratic elements that underlie the nationalism.

Just as Wallace, when he fought for freedom from the British crown, also fought to bring the social system of the two countries closer together, so communists must in the same kind of spirit. A federal republican system could achieve that aim, but only if it is under the control of the working class forces - consciously fighting for what workers actually need, not subordinating what we need to a sprig of heather or a leek in the cap.

Phil Kent