Dear Mhairi Black,
Let's take a step into the distant past. 1997. I was seven, you were three. I doubt either of us took much interest in the Scottish devolution debate that year. Certainly, it doesn't rank alongside the victory of the No More School Party in my primary school elections, which brought Tony Blair to power (I might be mixing two events there...). But there was a referendum in Scotland, and by 75% to 25%, the Scottish people voted to restore a legislative assembly to Edinburgh.
They also voted on another question. To ensure that the new Scottish Parliament would be more than a talking shop, the Labour government granted it the power to vary the rate of income tax in Scotland by 3 pence in the pound. This 'Tartan Tax' was where the opponents of devolution chose to do battle. The Parliament was a foregone conclusion. But tax-raising powers weren't. In the end, it too was passed, by 63% to 37%.
I don't know why, Mhairi Black, your party has chosen to follow this course of action. I have a few ideas. It is easier to paint Westminster as the villain. It also helps your cause of separating Scotland from the Union. But what you cannot do is attack Westminster for the state of the nation, when the Scotland you represent is equally of the SNP's making.
Like millions of others, last week I was enthralled by your maiden speech in the House of Commons. First of all, I wanted to say well done. It really was a fantastic speech, delivered with passion and incisive wit. Had you been standing in my constituency, I'd have voted for you hands down. I reckon anyone on the English left would be lying if they said they wouldn't have done the same.
But, Mhairi Black, there were parts of your speech that troubled me. Your account of the constituent who was forced to choose between travelling for food or travelling to the job centre movd me to tears. But, I am troubled. The picture of Scotland that you painted was of a country that is hurting. A country that is suffering, not just under the burden of austerity, but suffering under a cruel and oppressive government. Given that Scotland stopped backing the Conservatives a generation ago, it is easy to see the rage that is felt by many, that a government they never voted for is forcing austerity upon them. And yet, who else rules north of the border? Who else has at least contributed to the creation of this cold, uncaring land that you so passionately denounce? That would be the Scottish National Party, in power at Holyrood since 2007. Your party.
Now, hold on, you may say to me. Yes, the SNP has governed Scotland for eight years. But it has been subject to austerity from above, first by Labour, then the coalition, and now from the Conservatives. The SNP administration has been forced to do more with less, as the bloc grant from London has been cut. The only solution to this, you might add, is for Scotland to break away from the United Kingdom and go it alone. Released from the Westminster shackles, the SNP would able to throw money at all problems and solve them.
But, Mhairi Black, there were parts of your speech that troubled me. Your account of the constituent who was forced to choose between travelling for food or travelling to the job centre movd me to tears. But, I am troubled. The picture of Scotland that you painted was of a country that is hurting. A country that is suffering, not just under the burden of austerity, but suffering under a cruel and oppressive government. Given that Scotland stopped backing the Conservatives a generation ago, it is easy to see the rage that is felt by many, that a government they never voted for is forcing austerity upon them. And yet, who else rules north of the border? Who else has at least contributed to the creation of this cold, uncaring land that you so passionately denounce? That would be the Scottish National Party, in power at Holyrood since 2007. Your party.
Now, hold on, you may say to me. Yes, the SNP has governed Scotland for eight years. But it has been subject to austerity from above, first by Labour, then the coalition, and now from the Conservatives. The SNP administration has been forced to do more with less, as the bloc grant from London has been cut. The only solution to this, you might add, is for Scotland to break away from the United Kingdom and go it alone. Released from the Westminster shackles, the SNP would able to throw money at all problems and solve them.
Let's take a step into the distant past. 1997. I was seven, you were three. I doubt either of us took much interest in the Scottish devolution debate that year. Certainly, it doesn't rank alongside the victory of the No More School Party in my primary school elections, which brought Tony Blair to power (I might be mixing two events there...). But there was a referendum in Scotland, and by 75% to 25%, the Scottish people voted to restore a legislative assembly to Edinburgh.
They also voted on another question. To ensure that the new Scottish Parliament would be more than a talking shop, the Labour government granted it the power to vary the rate of income tax in Scotland by 3 pence in the pound. This 'Tartan Tax' was where the opponents of devolution chose to do battle. The Parliament was a foregone conclusion. But tax-raising powers weren't. In the end, it too was passed, by 63% to 37%.
Why the digression into history? That tax-altering power has never been used. Since 1999, when the Parliament first sat and the Scottish Government began work, no extra monies have been raised by Scotland, in Scotland or for Scotland. Were the SNP really the left-wing crusading firebrands they claim to be, they could have raised taxes in Scotland, to help the poorest in society, through tax credits, extra public spending, or even direct subsidies. This is called redistribution, and is the oldest socialist tool. It wouldn't solve all of Scotland's problems. But it would alleviate the suffering of thousands of Scots. Instead, as the bloc grant from Westminster shrinks, the SNP administration has applied austerity. The only political institution with the power to ease the cuts, apart from the mighty Treasury, has chosen not to do so.
You also identified Tony Benn as your all time political hero. I had to watch that bit again, so surprised was I. Tony Benn? A Labour stalwart for so long that he probably knew the Tolpuddle Martyrs? Labour, the party you and the SNP are committed to destroying, both in Scotland and apparently here in England as well?
I can only presume you were drawn to Tony Benn due to the fact that, during the 1980s, his insurgent campaign to make Labour more socialist ignited a civil war in the party that brought it to the brink of collapse. Of course, as a result he was partly responsible for a split in the left vote, which kept the Tories in power for nearly two decades. Is that what you want? Another eighteen years of single party, right wing rule?
In spite of his actions, Benn was Labour to his core. He opposed Scottish independence, on the grounds of class solidarity and familial ties. Do not claim that you are inspired by him, when all the evidence suggests that the SNP is devoted to destroying much of what he stood for.
There is another reason you should be cautious about appropriating the legacy of Tony Benn. Above all else, even above socialism, Tony Benn loved democracy. Specifically, he loved the democratically expressed sovereign will of the British people, as expressed through the men and women that they returned to represent them in the House of Commons. Parliamentary sovereignty was everything to him. This is where his opposition to the EU came from (incidentally, SNP policy is to join the EU so fast no one will notice you left; how does that fit?); not just because he saw the EU as a capitalist cabal, but because Britain's membership deprived the House of Commons of supreme sovereignty. There is a colossal irony in you choosing to identify with a figure who believed passionately in an institution that you and your party have shown nothing but contempt for, and have made clear you think has no place in governing the people of Scotland. I just wonder, how do you square that circle?
But once again, I must congratulate you on your achievements. The youngest MP since God knows when. A maiden speech that showed left-wing fire, eloquence and passion. A fantastic riposte to the idea that all MPs have to have life experience, or that young people don't care about politics.
But do not use your new found prominence to promise a Scottish socialist utopia, if only the shackles of Westminster were thrown off. The SNP is incapable of delivering that, and I suspect it doesn't want to either. Certainly it has not tried to in it's near decade running Scotland. A little more honesty from the SNP would endear it to millions of English people like me.
In spite of his actions, Benn was Labour to his core. He opposed Scottish independence, on the grounds of class solidarity and familial ties. Do not claim that you are inspired by him, when all the evidence suggests that the SNP is devoted to destroying much of what he stood for.
There is another reason you should be cautious about appropriating the legacy of Tony Benn. Above all else, even above socialism, Tony Benn loved democracy. Specifically, he loved the democratically expressed sovereign will of the British people, as expressed through the men and women that they returned to represent them in the House of Commons. Parliamentary sovereignty was everything to him. This is where his opposition to the EU came from (incidentally, SNP policy is to join the EU so fast no one will notice you left; how does that fit?); not just because he saw the EU as a capitalist cabal, but because Britain's membership deprived the House of Commons of supreme sovereignty. There is a colossal irony in you choosing to identify with a figure who believed passionately in an institution that you and your party have shown nothing but contempt for, and have made clear you think has no place in governing the people of Scotland. I just wonder, how do you square that circle?
But once again, I must congratulate you on your achievements. The youngest MP since God knows when. A maiden speech that showed left-wing fire, eloquence and passion. A fantastic riposte to the idea that all MPs have to have life experience, or that young people don't care about politics.
But do not use your new found prominence to promise a Scottish socialist utopia, if only the shackles of Westminster were thrown off. The SNP is incapable of delivering that, and I suspect it doesn't want to either. Certainly it has not tried to in it's near decade running Scotland. A little more honesty from the SNP would endear it to millions of English people like me.
Yours,
A fellow progressive traveller.
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