“Let prosperous people sustain a great welfare state. Let that state end the fear that comes with insecurity. Let us gift ourselves that Scotland.”
Scottish Actor and campaigner David Hayman received a standing ovation at the Radical Independence Conference 2013 when he read out the Declaration of Radical Independence. Here’s the text in full. The video of David’s speech will be available soon.
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A community, a society and a nation. An economy, an environment and a home.
These are not objects that exist because they are measured and weighed and counted.
They are not commodities, they are not someone’s gift.
They are the footprints each of us leave. They are the sum total of our actions and of our will.
Scotland wills itself to be a better nation, one we rebuild with our own hands.
Who then will tell us our will is not big enough?
Who then will tell us our hands are not strong enough?
Must the hope of the Scots for a better Scotland be the hope of the beaten for a less painful defeat?
Must the will of the Scots once again come second to greed and privilege?
This despair has a name. Its name is NO.
It is a despair that believes poverty inevitable and the decline of public service necessary. It is the cry of people who believe that wealth should belong to whomever has the sharpest claws.
OUR poverty, OUR decline; THEIR wealth, THEIR NO.
For 30 years we have waited for Britain’s rulers to live up to our hopes.
They either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
But now they notice.
Now they see the chance for working men and working women to take back a nation. Now they tremble at the thought that we might really do it.
Because what drives NO forward is the fear of those who stand to lose their privilege. They fear their kingdom of greed faces its demise.
They fear real democracy.
They fear that in a land beyond Westminster we will rediscover HOPE.
That HOPE has a name: Its name is YES.
It is a hope fashioned from knowledge. We know a better economy is possible because we have seen it in other nations.
We know greater equality among citizens is possible because we have seen that in other nations.
We know that ending poverty, reviving democracy and respecting our environment are possible because we have seen these things too.
And we know how to bring these things to Scotland.
We must abandon 30 years of the politics of exploitation, the damning, corrosive exploitation that makes a few rich from what the many lose.
We must replace it with the politics of sharing, where we all gain from the riches of our land and the fruits of our labour.
It is a fine Scottish tradition; to find what works, to find out how it works and to make it work better. For centuries Scotland’s ingenuity has been a gift to the world. Now let it be a gift also to ourselves.
Let us gift ourselves an economy where we make and create.
Let our creativity make working people prosperous.
Let prosperous people sustain a great welfare state. Let that state end the fear that comes with insecurity. Let us gift ourselves that Scotland.
Look at the forces that stand behind NO.
Look at the forces that stand behind YES.
Choose your side.
Together we can raise up our heads and work for a Scotland yet to come but visible already.
A Scotland of the Common Weal, of shared wealth and shared wellbeing.
Our Scotland. All of us first.
CONFERENCE REPORT:
Radical Independence – Another Scotland is Possible Posted on November 25, 2013
8 Responses
Yes, I’m sure Salmond, Moses-like, will lead his people to a land, if not exactly flowing with milk and honey, to one oozing with oil, where all social ills created by those nasty sassenach Tories will magically vanish overnight due to his party’s masterful handling of the Scottish economy.
Would this be the same Salmond who boasts about creating a “business friendly” (i.e. neoliberal) Scotland, and who recently told the blackmailed workforce at the Grangemouth Refinery that they had a “bright future” ahead of them after their scumbag billionaire boss had frozen their pay, scrapped their bonuses, shredded their pensions and coerced them into renouncing their right to withdraw their labour for three years? Oh, and let’s not mention his chummy relationship with capitalist exploiters such as Rupert Murdoch, Donald Trump, Brian Souter, et al.
This all smacks of the idealistic atmosphere that prevailed around the 1997 election when Labour supporters confidently asserted that Blair was the next Messiah who would usher in a new era of socialist compassion and sweep away Thatcherism’s evils.
Look how that turned out. What’s worse is that many of those same supporters (I know some of them) grew rapidly disillusioned with the false promises they had been spoonfed and turned rightwards, several ending up championing the likes of UKIP and the EDL.
Be warned: this could be the eventual fate of many decent SNP supporters who desperately aspire to a more humane society, but who have been seduced by the equally false pledges of Salmond’s tricksters.
The great reality check in simple terms……..
The Bank Bailout
According to the National Audit Office, The UK taxpayer spent £850bn bailing out the Banks in 2008. This is almost twice the nation’s total annual budget. For this amount, the UK could have funded the entire NHS (£106.7bn a year) for eight years , our whole education system for twenty years (£42bn a year) or provided two hundred years of Job Seekers Allowance (£4.9bn a year).
……………seems Cherie’s not at all happy with Tony having a chinese……….
Salmond sees only the glory of being in charge of an independent Scotland, name in lights and hobnobbing with the wealthy elite.
I’m afraid anything beyond this is an unknown quantity for the nice people of Scotland. His ego will outstrip his ambitions entirely and leave a sour taste when the sums fail to add up. Out of office he won’t have to pick up the tab for the errors of his judgements.
Personally, i can see why anybody north of the border would like to sever links with the scumbags in Westminster, I wish the North, where i live, could say fuck off to London and the miscreants who readily seek to make our country more divisive.
Caution would be an appropriate action,but if the people vote for independence, and it’s succesful, throw us northerners a lifeline so we can escape the drudgery of what we have been saddled with……………
We will certainly throw you a lifeline if we get the chance! Getting away from Westminster doesn’t mean we will abandon all solidarity with people in the UK who equally wish to escape Westminster’s neo-liberalism.
Well the SNP are not exactly radical although they have performed better than the other mainstream parties at some moderate social reforms e.g they picked up the SSP’s bill on free prescriptions which wasn’t passed in the Scottish parliament when New Labour dominated but once SNP was in charge the bill got passed. I think independence is a step in the right direction. The point is that even if Salmond continues Westminster’s neo-liberal policies albeit to a lesser degree, with independence we will have more power to challenge that. Without the large numbers of right-wing pro big business votes from England that ensures we always get neo-liberalism and cuts, we will be more in a position to remove any politician or party from power who favours the rich and the greedy over the needy. We will be able to tackle the inequalities that vulnerable Scots currently face e.g. for disabled people to get cold winter payments it has to be a couple of degrees colder in Scotland than in England to qualify because Scots are supposed to be “used to it”. That is blatant and shocking discrimination. So Scots with low thyroid, low immune system, low blood pressure, low adrenal function, immobility etc which are just some of the things that can make people feel the cold badly are supposed to be these hardy people who don’t feel the cold because they’re wee tough Scots who are used to running about in kilts in the snow. Scots get duller weather than down south so are more likely to suffer from SAD (winter depression) or from vitamin D deficiency which can lead to sub-clinical low thyroid. Sitting shivering in the cold being unable to afford the ever-increasing fuel costs is not conducive to fighting infections, particularly for people with poor immune systems. With independence we can take the utilities into public ownership. The SNP have already promised to re-nationalise the Royal Mail if we get independence. If they don’t go far enough and nationalise other things too we will have the power to democratically remove them. With the population of Scotland being much more progressive than in England our votes will not be wasted votes. We will really make a difference once we get independence – but we first of all have to vote Yes to get that opportunity. Voting Yes is a crucial step and continuing to fight for our rights both before and after gaining independence will ensure we get the services we need. Unlike Westminster a Scottish government will have to listen to the Scottish people or they’re out. A Scottish government with full powers will not have the excuse that their hands were tied because of Westminster. We really have the opportunity to get a Scottish government we want that will do what the majority of Scots want. But first of all we have to vote yes for independence!
By the way, the video of David Hayman’s reading of the radical independence declaration is now available and can be seen at http://youtu.be/DqTeWANZIYk
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