Few people remember Nick Johnston‘s career as a Tory MSP, which ended more than twelve years ago. But his decision to come out for a Yes vote today is still telling, not because he’s personally significant but because it demonstrates that the desire for Scotland to do better with self-governance does indeed span the conventional left-right spectrum, just as the No campaign does.
To be fair, though, his arguments aren’t exactly outside the independence-minded mainstream. Anyone from the Radical Independence Convention or the SNP or the Greens could have said that “while problems and opportunities with particular resonance in Scotland can go by the board at Westminster, it’s just not possible for that to happen in a Scottish Parliament“, or noted that “inequalities inherent in British society fester even more strongly in Scotland, leading to despair and often apathy“. Wanting a “a more dynamic economy, or measures to tackle poverty” is hardly bloodthirsty Thatcherism.
The fact is that any ambitious young centre-right politicos should be seeing the opportunity Johnston sees. It’s impossible to see a strong future for the Tories under devolution, particularly given the current positions adopted by the SNP. A party that combines a degree of social liberalism and protection for public services from privatisation with a centre-right position on tax and spend will always hoover up their votes, especially if that’s a credible alternative Scottish government to Labour.
An independent Scotland will almost certainly keep voting to the left of the rUK, on average, despite the polls showing a smaller gap than many think, but independence will open up space for everyone to get out from under Westminster’s stifling influence and for our politics to be reshaped.
The Fergus Ewing wing of the SNP and the Johnston end of the Tory party aren’t that far apart (and independence would force the Tories to cut their ties to London and adopt the Murdo Fraser plan: Murdo coincidentally succeeded Johnston), the SSP might stage a comeback, Labour might rediscover an interest in something other than the constitution, and Greens, well, I think we’re already winning mindshare from SNP supporters and others on the left who want something more radical than NATO, the Queen and the pound. And the SNP itself: some of its activists and MSPs would go home – job done – but the rest would find other things to work on, new alliances to make based on issues other than the constitution. I can’t wait to see it unfold.
#1 by Martin Burns on December 22, 2013 - 5:52 pm
I’ve been saying for a good while now that the most healthy thing for a Post-Indy Scotland is for the existing parties to essentially either disband or significantly change focus. A major realignment of politics in either case.
I’m particularly worried about the SNP – no party that includes both Fergus Ewing and Roseanna Cunningham has any business existing once the unifying aim of independence is achieved. To be in existence much past Independence risks NewLabourism – power as its own justification. Both to avoid this and to shoot BitterTogether’s biggest fox, the SNP should commit to disbanding before the first post-indy general election.
Of course the promises in the White Paper make this impossible – once entrenched in post-Indy power, ain’t no way this is happening.
#2 by Martin Burns on December 22, 2013 - 5:58 pm
Of course, what continuity-SNP (or alternatively, a breakaway from it) could be is a Scandi-style centrist party along the lines you suggest, taking in a few leftish Tories with it. I wonder if it could then revive the spirit of the old Unionist party, with all the actual (Irish) Unionism stripped out, and resonate strongly with the heartland of the Scottish body politic, ending Scotland’s recent flirtation with the Labour movement. Let’s call them… the New Democrats (for the sake of argument).
You’d then have a major party grouping on each side: on present political direction, that’d be Labour to the right and Green/SSP to the left.