Wendy Alexander, leader of the Labour Party in Scotland has declared that the SNP Government should “bring on” a referendum on independence and has gone as far as to not rule out a bill calling for a poll earlier than the Nationalist administration’s proposed date of 2010. This has resulted in the issue of Scottish independence making a large impact on the national media for the first time since the SNP’s victory in the Scottish Parliament elections in May of last year. It has also unleashed a potential Pandora’s Box that is threatening to divide the Labour leadership in Scotland from the national leadership.

This latest stunt follows another large electoral defeat for the Labour Party, the second in two years. With this U-Turn Wendy Alexander and the Scottish Labour leadership hope to show up a popular SNP government by making them face up to their commitment on independence head on. Alexander also knows that although the SNP is popular, the idea of independence is not and in highlighting this issue she hopes to give the SNP a bloody nose. This has been done particularly as she know they do not want to hold a referendum until 2010,  when the political situation in the rest of the UK is likely to be more favourable to independence.

The SNP government is quite happy to wait until 2010 as by this point we could be faced with either the tail end of an increasingly unpopular Labour government or a Tory government that has unleashed a vicious arsenal of attacks on the working class. Under such conditions it is likely that independence would gain a higher vote from disenchanted working class voters. Clearly this game of real politik flows from the historical legacy of Braveheart himself!

The issue of a referendum has become an embarrassment for the Labour Party’s national leadership. Under pressure from David Cameron, Brown was forced to somewhat distance himself from Wendy Alexander. He went as far as to argue that in fact she had not argued in favour of a referendum whilst anyone who has so much as glanced at the Scottish news over the last few days may feel somewhat differently. This is a potentially divisive issue, particularly at a time when Gordon Brown is desperate to show himself to be committed to “Britishness”. To be seen to in any way give into SNP demands or to be contemplating compromising the union could be disastrous for him. This comes at a time when the Labour Party is already suffering from an election defeat and consistent poor showings in the opinion polls.

Wendy Alexander has more recently come out and stated that she will introduce a Private Member’s Bill to the Parliament to a force an immediate referendum, in a further attempt to discredit the SNP. It is actually quite possible that this proposal will amount to little more than hot air. As the SNP propose a referendum in 2010 any proposal for a future referendum is likely to fall in breach of the technical rules of the Scottish Parliament, as MSPS are not allowed to introduce legislation about a measure if the Government already plans to propose a similar measure in the same Parliamentary term.

As Marxists we support the call for a referendum soon. In recent years the issue of Scottish independence has become one of importance and it is an issue that should be ultimately decided upon by the people of Scotland. It would be to their detriment to leave this fundamental question unanswered. While supporting such a referendum and fully respecting its outcome we would be under no illusions with nationalism or independence.

If such a poll were to go ahead we would argue against independence for Scotland and of the necessity to fight along class lines, rather than national lines. An independent Scotland on a capitalist basis would not remove one of the problems of poor public services, privatisation, student debt, unemployment or low pay that we face just now, not to mention the effects of the financial crisis that is now spilling over into the real economy.

In power the SNP have shown they provide no solutions to the problems of the Scottish working class. They have systematically failed to deliver on the progressive election promises such as abolishing student debt. The SNP are a party of big business through and through, with a significant portion of their funding coming from the millionaire bus tycoon and infamous homophobic bigot Bryan Souter. They were also publicly supported by the ex-chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland as a party for Scottish business interests. Edinburgh is now one of the biggest finance centres in the world and companies such as Standard Life and the Royal Bank see the SNP as a useful tool through which to gain greater financial autonomy. If the conditions are correct they will support full independence as this would allow them to dominate Scotland to an even greater degree.

Ultimately the problem of nationalism and the question of a referendum lie squarely at the feet of the right wing Labour leaders. By making compromises with big businesses and refusing to pose the question of socialism the Labour Party leadership has only itself to blame for the rise of nationalism in Scotland and the support of the SNP. Support for a referendum in the immediacy can only lead to the long term defeat of nationalism if it is accompanied by the adoption of a bold socialist programme that addresses the fundamental problems of workers and youth.