11.09.1997

CGSD makes its mark

Scotland’s referendum

Campaigning in Scotland took off in the final week leading up to the referendum on Blair’s sop parliament. Unlike Scotland Forward and the Tory Think Twice, the Campaign for Genuine Self-Determination did not suspend its work for a whole week in the lead-up to Princess Diana’s funeral.

The CGSD had a very positive response at its stall in Glasgow city centre, with many people sick of the suspension of such an important campaign for ‘England’s rose’. Though the CGSD has faced an organised and almost blanket media blackout it was able to take advantage of the media circus of the last few days to get its message across. The campaign has been featured in articles in the Scottish papers, and there was a lively exchange of letters in The Herald, putting forward both the necessity for the people of Scotland to fight for a parliament with full powers and the CPGB’s view that the working class throughout the UK state should join in opposition to the whole constitution in favour of a federal republic.

Members of the campaign also took part in a number of TV debates, challenging both the Scottish National Party’s Alex Salmond and New Labour’s Donald Dewar over their total disregard for the democratic rights of Scottish people.

At Scotland Forward’s launch of last week’s campaigning on Sunday Dewar seemed particularly rattled by the CGSD, cursing its sponsors and screwing up the leaflet he was handed - discarding the normal Madame Tussauds waxwork facade that bourgeois politicians practise for hours.

John Prescott and Alex Salmond ran into the CGSD stall at lunchtime on Tuesday. Prescott, surrounded by minders, nevertheless took a leaflet and denied our charge that he did not trust the Scottish people to determine their own future. Alex Salmond engaged in debate in front of the cameras, again denying he was selling out to New Labour’s sop, claiming that it would lead to independence. While Labour Party MPs on the trail with Prescott were hostile, SNP members were friendly and notably embarrassed that their party had taken such an unprincipled position. Previously on Sunday at the SNP-organised Scotland Forward rally, SNP members wanted their picture taken in front of the CGSD banner. It is only disappointing that they have allowed themselves to be gagged and not had the confidence to join the fight for genuine self-determination.

Later that day Glasgow’s main library was occupied to protest against the undemocratic practices of Glasgow city council around the referendum campaign. Glasgow libraries distributed the leaflets of both the exclusively Tory Think Twice campaign and the cross-party, Labour-led Scotland Forward campaign. Margaret Wallace, chief librarian, initially agreed that the CGSD could also have 5,000 leaflets distributed. She said all campaigns would have equality of opportunity.

But after phoning to check delivery of the extra leaflets printed, the CGSD was subsequently told that they would not be distributed after all. What was quite clearly a political decision to suppress debate was taken by an individual Labour councillor, Frank McAveety (convenor of the arts and culture committee). William Bell, the assistant director of libraries, told us that the decision came from councillor McAveety, but refused to make a public statement.

CGSD supporter Rosie Kane, Scottish Socialist Alliance candidate for Rutherglen and a leading environmental protester in Glasgow, said:

“This is outrageous political censorship. We have been given a number of excuses as to why this decision was made. The most tenuous one being that the CGSD is an exclusive campaign. This is not true, as is made clear in all our publicity material, though who would doubt that the Think Twice campaign is exclusive?”

Mary Ward, secretary of the campaign, added:

“These MacCarthyite practices do not bode well for any future Scottish parliament. The Labour Party is clearly opposed to freedom of speech or expression.”

Christine Stewart, vice convenor of Unison at the library, came out to talk to the protesters and agreed to distribute the leaflets to her members and raise the matter at their next meeting.

That evening the campaign protested at McAveety’s surgery in Glasgow. He refused to budge, defending his right to censor the CGSD as he might the far right.

In the last week of the campaign we have been able to get the idea across that working class people do not have to accept Labour’s sop, but can fight to take the question of democracy into their own hands. We have found much sympathy with the idea of an active boycott, both amongst members of Scottish Militant Labour and the SSA, as well as with those we have met throughout the campaign.

There is much cynicism towards both Labour and SNP leaders. As yet that sympathy has not been turned into action, with people still hoping that the end of the Tories could in itself open up the possibility of change in Scotland.

Lee-Anne Bates