The situation of financial crisis, coupled with a hugely unpopular Westminster government that has found itself entirely incapable of coming up with any solutions  beyond throwing more and more of our money at the banks, would seem a perfect opportunity for the SNP to make their mark and assert the need for an independent Scotland. With unemployment poised to reach two million and share prices continuing to fall at the SNP conference, Alex Salmond has been reduced to calling for the return of ‘Scotland’s money’ and blaming the collapse of Scottish banks on the Union. Supposedly independence will save us from such catastrophes in the future. 

When the Bank of Scotland was in trouble in the middle of September Salmond attacked the “spivs and speculators” who had laid into a fine institution of Scottish finance. As is clear to all, the economic crisis is in reality nothing but a plot by some shady figures in a dark smoky room, designed to attack particular banks they happen to have a national vendetta against.

However, the SNP have been left smarting by developments over the last few weeks. In 2006 Salmond, a former banking economist, cited Scotland as potentially having a place in Northern Europe’s ‘arc of prosperity’ alongside other small nations such as Ireland and Iceland.  Salmond has attempted to defend this by arguing that except for Iceland the other countries are not yet tipped for recession by the IMF. This means nothing as the list grows everyday and the Irish workers are finding themselves made liable for the failing of the major banks.

The old tale spun by the nationalists where Scotland was to be a haven of economic growth, based on the strength of its financial services sector seems thoroughly discredited, given recent events. Clearly Salmond was just as caught up in illusions in the capitalist boom as Brown and Darling, all be it with a tartan twinge.

 The development of the financial crisis has exposed the weaknesses of finance capital internationally.  The supposedly modern prosperous and secure economies of the ‘arc of prosperity’ have been shown to be vulnerable, with Iceland being left in a particularly precarious situation. These economies were relatively unregulated and entirely dependent on finance capital. As a result the economies of these countries were effectively reliant on the ability of the banks to play the world market; to place winning bets with other people’s money. All was well until the emergence of the financial crisis. Iceland is a tiny country and its banks had taken out risky investments resting on activities all over the world. The government is powerless in the face of the recession and due to attempts to bail out the banks that were in debt to an amount several times the countries GDP Iceland is in effect bankrupt.

So this is the bright future the nationalists have promised Scotland! Or for some parts of Scotland it is already the present; several Scottish local authorities are now in serious financial trouble having taken out investments with Icelandic banks that have now gone bust. In real terms this means the potential loss of services and jobs and begs the question of why local authorities that cannot find enough money to grant pay rises of above 2% to low paid staff have enough funds to play at being venture capitalists.

In Ireland unemployment is beginning to rise and the government has secured the banks to the equivalent of 125 000 Euros per person. The Celtic Tiger is no longer the ferocious beast it once was and could well be in danger of extinction.  If Salmond had his way, Scotland would follow the same model. Edinburgh would have its own stock exchange and the Scottish economy and government would become even more dependent on the major financial institutions as the country became a playground for finance capital. If the last few weeks have shown anything it is the effect this would have on the lives of working people. 

For all their trumpeted differences with the national government, the SNP have supported every measure they have taken to bail out the banks. Speaking of responsibility and a state of emergency Salmond revealed himself to be the servant of the very “spivs and speculators” he criticised. For all bankers are spivs and speculators, the market could not function otherwise. Whether flying a Union Jack or a Saltire, the Westminster and Hollyrood government have both shown themselves to be upholders of the wealthy and privileged failures at the expense of the rest of us.