GEORDIE Kerevan’s Monday column “Here is a primary reason we need independence – and need it now” thankfully concludes “Whatever you want to call that process – colonialist or no – it has to be reversed”. Call it what you will. The argument is not new and is all matter of definition and purely academic. Because someone decides it is so, does not make it so. Colonialism takes many forms, internal, external or otherwise.

I remember British/English Marxists on “Internal colonialism” by Linda Del Colliein, which tries to claim the Anglicisation of (Romanised) Celtic Britain, South of Hadrian’s Wall, was really a process of integration and assimilation, not annihilation.

READ MORE: George Kerevan: Here is a primary reason we need independence – and need it now

I did not agree, as the Britons were forced into what is now Wales and Cornwall from the Saxon Shore. The subject had a big impact on Unionist “Marxists” in the 70s.

German auxiliaries in the Roman legions of occupation saw how weak the Romanised Celts were after the Romans departed and seized the opportunity to invade after the Romans left. Later Angles from Jutland, or Denmark, came as Vikings. The Danegelt mainly conquered the Angles who had become Christianised. It was Charlemagne’s cruelty in sacking pagan Gothenburg that incensed the Pagans to attack Christians in turn, finding the hated, isolated monasteries a rich and isolated target. They were of the same Anglo Saxon stock. I guess the argument at the time tried to make us all good little Marxist “Pax Britannia” Brits.

Then, they argued the Sweaty Socks were not oppressed, or not oppressed enough. It was still sore. Then, they argued that were all noo English speakers and cannae have independence, ignoring the historical oppression of the Gaelic and Welsh Celtic languages.

In 1969 the International Marxist Group had a conference in Edinburgh to debate the matter. I do not know if George was around at that time, or even present, to debate whether we were a colony or not. Anyway, we managed to win the debate for a Scottish Workers Republic. Tariq Ali was most supportive. I was a young shop steward, who had left skule at 15 and had yet to get to yoonie like the rest of these middle-class Marxists.

Don’t get me started on Pat Kane’s argument aboot class. I don’t know what Marxist group he belanged tae. I may have become a teechur the last 15 years of my working life, but am definitely working-class by habit and repute. Tariq came from a landed Pakistani family, who were opposed to the division of India and understood colonialism, or imperialism very well. Lenin defined finance capital as the highest form of imperialism. There can be no doubt about that as fact, not opinion. The City of London and Westminster was a high centre of all that.

READ MORE: Pat Kane: The struggles of class are internal as well as external

The Anglo Yankee colonists spoke English, but it did not stop them having their own Tae Party and expanding their colonies west and south, taking their black slaves with them. So much for internal colonialism, they fought a civil war for a WASP “Union” and expanded further westward, committing more genocide on the indigenous peoples, leading to today’s confused Trumpian legacy.

We left a real Union in Europe, where all partners are equal, for an enforced Brexitised “Union” of a disunited Queendome, descended from a Norman Conquest of English peasants, who tried to enforce the manorial or feudal system upon us tribal Celts, who were to wee, too poor and too stupit to resist.

So Pat and Geordie are right, who cares how anyone defines how many Trot Bengal Lancers are oan the heid o’ peen? Colonialism or not, we are all class and national victims of Anglo capitalism, nuclear terrorism and imperialism.

Donald Anderson
Glasgow