CommonWeal

CommonSpace columnist Steve Topple offers a perspective from England on the Scottish parliamentary election results

I’M sure the Scots invented the term ‘political engagement’, you know.

Whenever I look at my Twitter timeline there is always an abundance of my Scottish tweeps on, debating one thing, arguing about another, discussing something else or merely laughing about whatever Ruth Davidson has sat astride today.

I love Scottish politics. Not because I fully understand the mechanisms of it, nor because it is more left-leaning than here in England, but because you all love it, too.

I love Scottish politics. Not because I fully understand the mechanisms of it, nor because it is more left-leaning than here in England, but because you all love it, too.

It’s infectious; it rubs off on you – and that tangible aura of really giving a damn was vehemently apparent yesterday.

The turnout in the Scottish parliamentary election was a quite staggering 55.6 per cent (up from 50.4 per cent in 2011). Compare this to the paltry 32 per cent turnout according to early reports in England, and it is testament to just how well democracy and politics is working in Scotland.

Aside from the SNP not getting a majority, this should be hailed as yet another successful chapter in the unfolding novel entitled ‘The Road to Independence’. Compare it to what’s going on south of the border, as well, and the glaring difference is almost blinding.

A case in point for the dire state of affairs in my country is the London borough of Newham. A local authority run by a Labour autocracy, where fears of corruption are rife and not a jot is apparently cared by the elected representatives about the people. It is, in all intents and purposes, a modern day rotten Borough.

It’s infectious; it rubs off on you – and that tangible aura of really giving a damn was vehemently apparent yesterday.

At the last local elections in 2014, voter turnout was 40 per cent, but this doesn’t tell the whole story. Of the 60 Labour councillors elected, on average they were put into office with the support of just nine per cent of the electorate. Nine per cent.

This is no way to run politics. The council there has made no effort to address exactly why the people whom it serves are so disinterested in how the borough they live in is run. They just carry on regardless, with the same, self-serving agendas.

In Scotland it’s different. You have politicians who are visible, who are felt to be ‘people’ and who come across as real, as opposed to cardboard cut-outs who could be replicated in any county, in any part of the country. You also have an electorate which is engaged, not easily distracted by the latest round of auditions on Britain’s Got Talent.

What may well have shored up the resolve of people in Scotland is the independence referendum, which (whatever side of the fence you sit on) was a triumph in terms of taking politics to the masses and embracing a system which was still in its infancy.

Aside from the SNP not getting a majority, this should be hailed as yet another successful chapter in the unfolding novel entitled ‘The Road to Independence’.

I think today’s result was, also, all about independence. But it always has been, though – hasn’t it? Which is something most people south of the border fail to understand.

During the referendum campaign so many self-proclaimed socialists in the rest of the UK were furiously pro-union, without the faintest inkling of what the socialist argument for Scottish independence actually was.

Now, I’m no socialist (although everyone likes to label me as such). I’ve never read any Marx or Engels nor am I actually a statist, whatever people may think. I’m really an anti-globalist, anti-corporatist thingy-me-bob with anarchic tendencies and a splattering of syndicalism. Or something.

But the underlying principle for me about Scottish independence is that it will give the country a clean slate. The frankly preposterous calls of independence being somehow un-socialist and non-internationalist are positively daft. The principle of socialism (as I understand it) is that you unite with fellow socialist countries worldwide – not unite with an Ed Miliband-led flaccid todger of a social-democratic movement.

Calling anyone who wanted self-governance for their country ‘nationalist’ (that term which is still bandied about day in, day out) is just a cheap way of creating manufactured consent towards opposing this goal.

You have politicians who are visible, who are felt to be ‘people’ and who come across as real, as opposed to cardboard cut-outs who could be replicated in any part of the country.

With independence you have the opportunity to fundamentally realign the debate across a whole nation; put the right wing eternally on the back foot and create a left-leaning government with a radically fresh, far left opposition to help mould the future. This is why the Greens, the SSP and Rise were, and still are, so important. And I have to say the vitriol towards them is somewhat unnerving.

I understand the anger towards smaller, fringe parties. I really do. The consensus is that a strong SNP majority would have hastened the process of a second independence referendum, and once that’s won you can then get down to the business of creating your own political landscape. And I broadly do agree with that.

But (and it’s just my take from engaging with people of all political persuasions on Twitter), the somewhat dogmatic ‘both votes SNP’ mantra has been something of a turn-off for many.

Let’s not forget, either – the SNP is not a ‘socialist’ party. It is, realistically, where Labour should be sat on the centre-left. And while this will appeal to many whose ultimate goal is independence, people who place a higher regard on voting with their heart, not their head, were never going to be swayed.

The running roughshod over the likes of Rise (whatever they may have been accused of) does nothing in the long term for the ultimate goal of independence. It may seem like it does, but you are merely narrowing the political discourse when you should be broadening it, in preparation for freedom from Westminster.

With independence you have the opportunity to fundamentally realign the debate across a whole nation; put the right wing eternally on the back foot and create a left-leaning government.

I’d be dishonest if I didn’t mention my unease at the constant berating of my fellow journalists at the CommonSpace, as well. This is a platform unlike any other I write for. No adverts, no spam, by far the broadest range of content of anyone else and an editor who never, ever revises my work nor tells me what to say.

But that doesn’t appear good enough for some people. What would you rather have? That it became a Wings-esque, diatribe-led frothing platform of highly dubious opinions which only fitted one agenda? Or a media outlet which is ready for the day when Scotland does become independent and can be first off the mark to lead the coverage of your new, virginal political landscape?

But editor Angela Haggerty writes for the Sunday Herald! So? I write for the Independent. Doesn’t mean I secretly tow their highly questionable, flip-flopping liberal line. Necks need to be wound in, sharpish – and lucky stars need to be counted, as I can tell you many people this side of the border would love a platform like CommonSpace reflecting a broad selection of left-leaning political views.

It thoroughly perplexes me that so many people who share the ultimate goal of independence cannot see the likes of Rise and the CommonSpace for what they are in this movement – germinating seedlings in the garden of your new, independent country. In my opinion? You pull them out like weeds at your peril. Oh, and leave Angela the hell alone. There. Said it. And no, she didn’t tell me to.

My view is that last night’s result and lack of an SNP majority should not, and does not need to be viewed negatively on the broader journey of your political and social system.

So the conundrum now is where does Scottish politics go from here? My view is that last night’s result and lack of an SNP majority should not, and does not need to be viewed negatively on the broader journey of your political and social system.

Labour is finished. There is no way back now as that paradigm has well and truly shifted. What the SNP and the Greens now have is the opportunity of doing exactly the same thing that was done to the ‘red Tories’ – but to the blue ones.

Ruth Davidson’s half-baked, opportunistic approach to political discourse will simply not stand up under scrutiny, nor under the sublime onslaught that Nicola Sturgeon will have waiting for her. By all intents and purposes, the noticeable shift from Labour to Tory was merely the last gasp of a dying Unionist movement, frantically scratching with bloodied nails at the barely open door into England.

This, my Scottish friends, is by no means a defeat. This is a wonderful opportunity to do a number of things.

The Tories under Davidson will clusterfuck. That is a given. Labour is dead in the water, with little chance of dragging itself up from the bottom in its self-made concrete shoes.

Your political engagement is something to behold, and your fiercely passionate deportment an asset, not a hindrance.

You have the opportunity, now, to briskly move forwards towards that ultimate goal of independence, and you have nearly all the mechanisms in place to emerge one of the most enlightened, glorious and opportunity-laden countries on the planet.

Your political engagement is something to behold, and your fiercely passionate deportment an asset, not a hindrance.

We English could learn a lot from you. But please, please remember – there is more to independence than just getting there. There is what emerges on the other side. What you have is, for me, highly enviable – and you should be relishing it, not turning against it before it has even fully developed.

Or alternatively, I’ll swap places with one of you guys, and you can come and live in Tory-led Suffolk, where even the name ‘Blair’ is frowned upon as something Stalinist. And thank your lucky stars you don’t live in Newham.

So onwards and upwards. But remember you all have the same goal – you just need to agree and work together to get there.

The CommonSpace opinion section is an open platform for anyone who wants to voice their views and does not represent the editorial position of CommonSpace itself. If you’d like to have a piece published, email CommonSpace editor Angela Haggerty at angela@common.scot

Picture: CommonSpace