Editorial. Scotland a beacon? Real events or wishful thinking?

Editorial. Scotland a beacon? Real events or wishful thinking?

In my experience which I understand is not scientific evidence as such, real events transcend ideology. John Lennon wrote “Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans. Hardly proof but perhaps here the proof is in the eating and everybody’s life experience can verify this truism to some degree or another.
Perhaps a moment of awakening for me was during the 2014 referendum in which a turning point was when Alex Salmond pushed the SNP’s anti- austerity
message higher up the agenda. It started a poll boost that finally swung Project Fear into full gear by frightening the older generation up and down the country with lies about pensions and such.
It was sorely disappointing to lose to the manipulators of big business and war. Yet it proved to be less than an outright victory for unionism, the Blairite Labour party took a nose dive for their treacherous alignment with “Better Together” The Tories were reduced to one seat.
Despite a minor comeback for the opposition to the SNP at the last General election caused by a unionist coalition again bringing the then fledgling Corbynista Labour party into more disrepute. The change in labour leadership in Scotland though welcome has much to challenge its shabby record and it has to do much moe than declare that Scottish independence is feasible.
What the SNP have done with its limited power with the horrid exception of crippling council budgets,( Removing ring-fencing for the disabled who have seen their services slashed) Despite all this have mitigated some of the worst affects of austerity, removed student fees, and stopped the NHS from becoming a basket case as it is in England and Wales.
This latter saving grace of the SNP , on top of their anti-trident policy offers much to those suffering from austerity down south . It is a real beacon which explains the popularity of Nicola Sturgeon in those countries.
However askew the beacon, however much the Tories austerity is to blame or however weak is the SNP’s opposition, the existence of this beacon is
undeniable.
It is the actual shaping of this beacon that will define the way forward for Scotland and ultimately the rest of the UK. Make no mistake the rise of left reformism in Scotland has had a profound effect on the rise of left reformism in the labour party.
The real event of ongoing austerity and the possible departure from the single market will pose many challenges for the SNP government and the Scottish electorate. If Scottish Labour stop their electoral alliance with the Tories they may make more of a comeback but that could possibly be the start of another SNP landslide.
Ultimately the key to Scotland’s independence is anti-austerity, we need to build a strong base capable of shaping a beacon of hope for the whole world. This movement is capable of providing the tipping point for indyref2 or a Labour/SNP coalition in Westminster which would be a huge step forward.