THE article by Gregor Gall on December 17 (“Why is the UK so far behind Europe on employee directors?”) is interesting as it touches on a fundamentally important issue relevant to Scottish independence – the distribution of power, and the inseparable effects of that on the distribution of wealth and the paths along which money flows in our economy.
The incorporation of legal requirements for workers to elect representatives to the board of directors of companies is not a panacea and would need to be one element in a new code of company law, but it is part of a broader approach to create the institutional frameworks we will need to adopt if we want to address relationships of power in an independent Scotland.
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If the constitution – which sets out the legal and institutional foundations of the new Scottish state and frames how the country is to be governed – is designed to reproduce and maintain the existing relationships of power in Scotland, then we will become an independent country still dominated by corporate, financial and landowning elites. Under their control the state will maintain legal and institutional structures which maintain the existing distribution of wealth and the pathways along which money will flow. This means Scotland will end up with what the Scottish Banking & Finance Group has described previously as a “bankers’ currency”.
Those who advocate independence for its own sake or believe we can “sort everything out” after independence seem not to realise that will only result in a continuation of the existing distribution of power, wealth and money. Or perhaps they do know this but are, therefore, wolves in sheep’s clothing who want to maintain the status quo after independence.
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There is no such thing as a “politically neutral” independence or a “politically neutral” currency. Independence for its own sake is independence in name only and, by default, independence for the benefit of Scotland’s corporate, financial and landowning elites.
If we want a “people’s independence”, in which power is distributed more equally to the benefit of ordinary working people, tenant and small farmers, and communities everywhere, we must first draw up a written constitution, which enshrines a range of socio-economic rights for all, as the foundation for the new state. The new state must then create the legal and institutional framework which reshapes the distribution of power, wealth and money throughout civil society. Part of that is a new code of company law which facilitates the creation of companies which serve the interests of all of us, not just shareholders and the corporate elite.
We must democratise both our new state and the companies that do business in our country, whether they are domiciled in Scotland or are foreign investors.
Jim Osborne
Scottish Banking & Finance Group
I’M sure I’m not the only one who finds their ire excited by the nomenclature of Unionists when they are referring to the island of Britain. And, of course, it runs from top to bottom.
Stephen Flynn, at the last Prime Minister’s Questions, pointed out that energy bills in Scotland will not be £2500 on average but will more likely be £3300. Our new SNP Westminster leader has referenced, and identified, an entity that is Scotland and pointed out a difference pertaining to the governance of the population of said entity.
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For emphasis, he underlines the differences in energy generation in Scotland and the lack of political power to harness it for the benefit of the Scottish population.
This elicits a response from Rishi Sunak which is straight out of the Tory handbook “How to Obfuscate”, but nevertheless gives away a beautiful illustration of what a privately educated, privilege-assuming, multi-millionaire would have Scotland be. “It is because of the actions of this government we are providing every household IN THIS COUNTRY with £900 of support etc etc.”
And there we have it! In the minds of himself, and his fellow Unionists, the whole island of Britain is “this country”. Scotland and Wales are simply constituent parts and are, therefore, dependent regions which unfortunately play host to a fractious element that wants to upset their Unionist philosophy.
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They have to propagate this fiction, particularly because of the financial crisis they have orchestrated, and their need to cling to any asset that will mitigate their blunders! Because this Union is so heavily dependent on natural resources within the bounds of Scotland which must be exploited, we will remain “Better Together”!
There’s no value in emphasising the lack of, even any pretence of any, “democracy” for the Scottish electorate! That’s why, in the debate which could have led to indyref2 being legally acceptable to Westminster, the Unionists torpedoed it to the tune of 265 against the 42 who had advanced it!
Get used to the message: shut up, you Jocks, get back in your box!
Ned Larkin
Inverness
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