ALMOST 30 years has passed since the cross-party pressure group Scotland United was formed bringing together socialists, nationalists, liberals, communists and Greens together with trade unionists, representatives from the churches and civic society to campaign for a multi-option referendum on Scotland’s future. 

Senior figures from the SNP like Mike Russell supported that position and marched alongside STUC general secretary Campbell Christie and a number of Labour MPs building support for the proposition. 

This was a good initiative uniting political opponents against the real enemy, the Tories, who had caused so much devastation in our communities and who were entrenched in their opposition to any devolution of power. 

Three decades on, I believe we need to learn from this initiative and re-form a Scotland United-style campaign, bringing together people who support constitutional change, be it independence or devo-max, in a drive for a multi-option referendum. 

Such a campaign would allow those who campaigned on both the Yes and No side in 2014 to work together, setting aside tribal enmity in pursuit of a common goal. 

This does not require anyone to give up their preferred option, but it does require all of us to respect the other’s position as legitimate and worthy of being included in a national debate and worth of inclusion on the ballot paper. 

This is not a ruse to scupper independence nor a fudge or a compromise, it is a genuine attempt to bring people together in common cause. 

In considering this I would point you to the new publication from the Red Paper Collective called Scotland United — The Fight for a Radical Scottish Parliament.

The collective brings together a group of trade unionists, politicians, academics and activists who support a devo-max and ultimately federal future for Scotland within the UK. 

Of course, devo-max has to be defined if it is to become a genuine proposal, and that work must be done now. 

My vision is one that would see all powers devolved to the lowest possible level unless there is an overwhelming reason not to.  

A proposal that creates full employment in a sustainable economy across Britain where public ownership and industrial democracy are central to the creation of good-quality jobs and where every citizen lives a life free of poverty and alienation. 

The new Red Paper publication builds on previous books and journals and sets out what type of country we want to create, why we need a multi-option referendum and how such a poll would work in practice. 

Professor James Mitchell of Edinburgh University exposes the attempt by some to rewrite history by claiming devo-max was on the ballot paper in 2014 and therefore should not be included in any future referendum. 

Of course it wasn’t. But even if that argument stood up then, it would have to apply to independence too, which of course was on ballot paper in 2014 and rejected. 

Mitchell argues that a binary referendum limits voter choice, forcing people to vote for the least worst option rather than the best option and explains how, across the world, 100 multi-option referendums have taken place with a clear outcome, most recently on the Chilean constitution.

Academic and former adviser to Jeremy Corbyn Tommy Kane looks at the current state of the Scottish and UK economies, the crisis of capitalism exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the gross social and economic inequalities that exist within our communities. 

He critiques the SNP Growth Commission and the influence of big business on its policy agenda and points to the work of North Ayrshire Council’s Community Wealth Building initiative as a model for local social and economic progress. 

Sean Patrick Griffin, a constitutional lawyer, discusses how centralised the current British state and how any UK prime minister with an overall majority has untrammelled constitutional power. 

Even with no majority, the current lodger in No 10 unlawfully advised the Queen to prorogue Parliament for five weeks during the Brexit debacle. 

He also points to the lack of a codified and legally entrenched constitution as leaving our system of government open to abuse — we saw this again with Boris Johnson saying he would refuse to resign if a “vote of no confidence” was passed in the Commons. 

Are these the actions of the “mother of all parliaments”? More like a failed state. 

Griffin points to these and many other examples as evidence of the need for major constitutional change, not just for Scotland but across the UK, including the English regions that have been abused and shoved around by the Tory government during the Covid crisis — remember Andy Burnham’s reaction to the imposition of measures on his Greater Manchester region. 

Beth Winter, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, looks at situation in Wales and work of successive Labour governments putting “clear red water” between them and Westminster highlighting the protection of the NHS from privatisation, the Trade Union (Wales) Act, the Well-being of Future Generations Act, defence of public services and much more as examples. 

She also rails against the attempts by the Welsh Office to by pass the devolution settlement with the Internal Market Bill, direct UK funding of projects opposed by the Senedd and attempts to drive down food and animal welfare standards and proposes building a coalition with socialists across the UK to argue for major constitutional reform.

Professor John Foster analyses the foreign ownership of the Scottish economy, the impact of austerity, collapse in oil prices, huge cuts to local government funding and the SNP’s alliance with corporate power brokers. 

He calls for a rejection of this approach, expansion of public ownership and an end to restrictive state aid arrangements. 

Professor David Byrne explores the crisis of capitalism and how we sit on the brink of a climate catastrophe, the reliance of Scotland’s economy on the service sector and the dominant influence of private interest in shaping economic policy. 

He sets out the necessity of a planned economy to address issues such as low pay, poverty, climate change, exploitation and inequality and calls for a socialist alternative based on democracy, public ownership and planning. 

Finally, Mike Cowley, a college lecturer and Educational Institute of Scotland activist, challenges the nationalist left with his view “that there is a model of politics, identifiable across the spectrum of belief, which relegates all immediate concerns, however pressing, to a distant, imagined future where every injustice is resolved on the basis of a single catalysing event.” 

Cowley’s frustration at this simplistic narrative leaps out from the pages of his contribution and is well worth a read, particularly for those comrades he challenges. 

This new publication is an excellent contribution to the debate over Scotland and the UK’s future. 

I hope that comrades across the broad left will read it, debate it and come together on the issues we agree on, respectfully discuss the issues we disagree on and work together to campaign for a multi-option referendum.

Neil Findlay is member of the Scottish Parliament for Lothian.

Scotland United — 1971-2021 The Fight for a Radical Scottish Parliament is edited by Vince Mills and Pauline Bryan and can be accessed at www.scottishlabourleft.co.uk/articles—reports.