It started on Friday with a visit to Kilwinning for a business meeting.
As soon as the suburbs of Glasgow are left behind you immediately start to see Better Together signs in the field and in people’s from windows and union flags in the gardens. In the major urban conurbations like Glasgow people obviously feel under threat should they display No campaign materials on their property.
FRIDAY NIGHT IN GREENOCK
Donning our stab-proof vests on Friday night, SM and I attended a public meeting in Greenock where George Galloway and former Labour MP Brian Wilson were the speakers as part of the Just Say Naw tour they have organised. It’s an unaffiliated left-wing contribution to the referendum debate.
Years ago when I was a student I worked in a pub that was a haunt for the Labour Party activists who got Galloway in as their candidate in Hillhead. From watching their gradual disillusionment with George, which in several cases turned to burning hatred, I’ve kept a rather jaundiced eye on his utterings and doings since.
However, notwithstanding my antipathy to much of their politics Galloway and Wilson have brought a much needed sidelight onto the referendum campaign for those on the left.
For people like myself who spend much of their time in the company of those with similar interests it’s easy to get into a bubble where you assume that the whole of society shares your views and knowledge of certain affairs. The reality is that this referendum is being fought largely on the ground on the left of the political spectrum by the Labour Party across swathes of the country on issues like the economy, money supply and the health service rather than by marching bands playing the British Grenadiers with the Union Jack waving in the breeze.
It should be noted that some of the most active and vocal supporters of the Union are both on the left and from Celtic supporting backgrounds - Wilson, Galloway, Murphy and Curran. And it’s been refreshing to see on Follow Follow and forums like Pulse Resources (http://www.pulseresources.org/new/forum.php) that many of what could be terms ‘traditional Unionists’ accept this without a descent into stereotyping and gurning. When faced with the enormity of 18th September people have become focussed on what is really important rather than side issues.
The meeting itself had about 200 people at it. The Nats had been ordering additional tickets by the hundred in an attempt to disrupt it and this meant a wee bit of inconvenience for the rest of us in the registration process. We were to see the best and the worst of the Nats throughout the night.
Galloway opened the event with a 15 minute talk outlining his critique of the separatist campaign and why specifically working-class people should vote No. At several points a couple of female Nats randomly shouted out abuse or questions. Brian Wilson then joined the fray with a similar contribution although this was more analytical on the numbers than Galloway’s rhetorical flourishes. We were spared George’s usual references to bare-footed Irish communist grandparents arriving bare-footed in Dundee and him having an old drawer as a cradle.
Much of their reasoning resonated from me on a personal basis - both sides of my family benefitted enormously from the Welfare State - for working class people the 1945 election brought in a period of untold happiness and prosperity - reforms made sure that working people no longer feared to call the doctor or lived in squalor (although much was already being done in the 20s and 30s at a municipal level to tackle slum clearances) and working class kids could go to university and college and get a grant to do so!
This they argued was the result of a unified British working class able to gain control of the levers of power of one of the worlds largest economies. Although Scotland was a nation it chose to be a partner in theUnion - in fact we could have voted at any time in the last 100 years for instance to break away. But we didn’t because we already are free - and we’ll remain as free after 18th September as we were before whatever the decision.
Another matter was the Nationalists distance from the reality of the economy of the British state - the idea that you could be ‘indpendent’ when the only land border you share is with the 6th or 7th largest economy in the world especially when you don’t control your own currency. Wilson pointed out that in a competion to cut business taxes (the Nats saying they will do it by 3%) did anyone believe the rump UK wouldn’t respond to a tax haven on their border? It would see a ‘race to the bottom’ - and the casualties would be the low paid.
The Question and Answer session was disrupted for about ten minutes on and off by a couple of Nats in the front row booing and shouting at every point they disagreed with so vehemently and loudly none of the rest of us could really follow what was being said. Eventually an explanation that no-one was there to hear them ranting, that it wasn’t their show and pressure from the rest of the crowd for them to shut the fark up restored order.
Much of the Q&A turned into mostly good natured Nat-bashing and a decent level of debate. The Nats to the back of the hall at least had a couple of rationale points to make in a pleasant manner. For instance, surely an independent Scotland would solve the problem of being governed by a Tory government. Galloway responded by saying that would be an abandonment of the working class in the rest of the UK and would hand the Tories complete control of the economy of the whole of the British Isles for our lifetimes. And that control would be effective over Scotland as well such is the reality of geography, history and economics.
Wilson was a quieter peformer - his time as a Cabinet-level minister means he has mastery over the facts on energy and defence - and in a public meeting you generally have the time to go into things in more detail than a media soundbite. He clearly regards the SNP’s claims on renewable energy, basing projections on the oil price and a Scottish defence industry as laughable.
Whilst some have praised Galloway for his oratory I can’t say I’ve ever been much impressed - but then I was spoiled in my early years of student political activity to witness bravura peformaces by the likes of John Bercow (I don’t like John but boy could he speak!), Paul Goodman and Nick Robinson. Also, Ted Heath was a great public speaker in the flesh and Enoch Powell was electicfying. Galloway stands out because his views are now well outside the accepted parameters of Labour Party debate and he takes things to the limit rather than providing the usual media-managed soundbites.
One questioner attempted to bring Ireland into it - but both Galloway and Wilson dismissed this citing the vastly different histories of the two countries. Frankly, however offensive I may have found Galloway and Wilson’s views on Ireland in the past they simply don’t matter. Nationalist Ireland has accepted Unionism as valid, accepted the consent principle, the Provos have been on ceasefire/disbandment on and off for 20 years, and in general the 40 years of violence consigned to the dustbin. It’s hard for Scottish or Bradford based politicians to be more Catholic than the Pope.
The meeting was a bit of a throwback - people just don’t do large public political meetings these days unless it’s to complain about something in their own backyard. We have largely lost the art of political debate in this country and replaced it with a farrago where shouting people down, vilifying them for the slightest divergence in policy and personal abuse are par for the course.
It was an enjoyable and entertaining evening which left me armed with a few useful arguments to deploy on the doorsteps.