Murphy is stuck in the 1970s and is arguably not a Unionist
JIM Murphy is arguably not a Unionist, in the same sense that Patrick Harvie is not a nationalist (“Murphy rebrands Unionism with a rhetorical wheeze”, Iain Macwhirter, The Herald, January 15). Both can be called internationalists, except that Patrick Harvie supports Scottish independence and Jim Murphy does not
There are scholars (with whom I would agree) who say that our current period of history is a shaky transition towards a global civilisation. I think Patrick Harvie recognises this and wants to move on to the future, while Jim Murphy is stuck in the 1970s, when Scottish independence was equated with nationalism, the SNP and even (wrongly) with Protestantism.
Jim Murphy does not seem to realise that it is not a question of nationalism versus internationalism. It is a question of all nations in an equal federation. Such a future federation cannot be Britain, which was never meant to be an experiment in internationalism, but a federal Europe and ultimately a federal world. I see Mr Murphy’s point. Yes, we Scots and English are all Britons. And yes, we are all working people. But the point is: after Scottish independence, the nations of Europe will have control over their own affairs within a federation. Our choice for the future this century is clear: are we to be an equal nation in Britain or Europe? Jim Murphy says Britain. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t work that way any more. The Empire is gone, the world is changing.
But then, that’s the trouble with (dare I say it?) Unionist politicians like Mr Murphy. They seem incapable of imagining the future beyond about five years. Jeff Fallow, 1 Brown’s Buildings, Leven Road, Windygates, Fife. IT IS an outcome of the referendum campaign that leads Iain Macwhirter to pose the question “when is a Unionist not a Unionist?” when discussing Jim Murphy.
In fact, a social democrat does not define politics in binary terms of nationalist/Unionist, but in terms of what are the best solutions to address the divisions in society caused by inequality of income and class. The constitutional arrangements are the means to the end of social justice. As Johann Lamont put it, if she had been convinced that independence would make Scotland a better and fairer place, she would have supported a Yes vote. The same goes for many more of us. What counts is what works, and the Yes case invited the risk of economic disaster which would have harmed the least well-off most. So independence failed that test by a long chalk.
This has become part of a larger and very unwelcome development in Scottish politics: we need to avoid the situation where the question “which school did you go to?” is replaced by “which way did you vote in the referendum?” The danger is of a lesser version of the divide to be seen in Irish politics between “Free-Staters” and “republicans” which is even now reflected by allegiances to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
Clearly the SNP can only accommodate those who voted Yes, those who were blind or indifferent to the economic weakness of the case for independence and those who do not respect the self-determination of the Scottish people as expressed through the ballot box on September 18. Scottish Labour, on the other hand, offers a choice in the forthcoming elections to all of those who want to see a fairer and more equal Scotland and UK. By being inclusive to No and Yes voters alike, it also offers a route away from the risk of a new sectarianism which the binary nature of Iain Macwhirter’s question reflects. Peter A Russell, 87 Munro Road, Jordanhill, Glasgow. I’M NOT that concerned about whether Jim Murphy says he’s a Unionist or not (“Murphy: I am not a Unionist”, The Herald, January 14). I’m very concerned that he backed 13 years of New Labour’s leaders weakening the NHS with policies adopted from the Conservative Party, like PFIs on both sides of the Border, and privatisation south of it. I’m concerned that he supported deregulation of the kind that led to the banking crisis, and the entire Iraq war, and voted for all of it in Parliament, never once criticising any of it. And just in case anyone thought he might have changed, he’s appointed John McTernan as his senior campaign manager. Mr McTernan was an aide to Tony Blair. He has repeatedly said that “privatisation is good for the NHS” and that we should send troops back into Iraq. He says a Tory revival would be good for Scotland.
I’m concerned that Blairites like Messrs Murphy and McTernan are still trying to fool voters into believing that they’re socialists or even social democrats who care about protecting the NHS, or public services, or reducing poverty, when in fact they only compete with the Conservative Party for power, and do this mostly by adopting its policies and rhetoric. Duncan McFarlane, Beanshields, Braidwood. “I’VE NEVER been a Unionist,” announces Jim Murphy. Strange, but I don’t seem to recall him making this incredulous declaration from the dizzy heights of his upturned crate just a few months ago. Neither do I remember him explaining to the gathered crowds at his feet that, really, his flirtation with the Better Together campaign was just a temporary alignment with another flavour of Unionism. Could it be that he is taking Scottish voters for fools? If so, then he joins the ranks of those who, once they had bagged the prize, deserted their cause.
Mr Murphy has snubbed those voters in Scotland who in the past would have voted Labour and not the SNP because they support the Union. He has betrayed those No voters who believed that he was genuinely passionate about preserving our “family of nations”, when what he now claims he was really talking about was our “family of trade unions”. In doing so, he has also insulted the rest of the Scottish electorate by pitching his “I’m not a Unionist” line to surreptitiously gain votes from those who voted Yes.
Scottish voters are not stupid and, after the referendum, we all understand the arguments for and against the Union. Mr Murphy relies on what he sees as a lazy, unthinking and ill-informed Scottish electorate to fall for his convoluted twists and turns. Dr Margaret Kirkwood, 24 Skernieland Road, Fenwick.