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Lüko tells me that my reply to him did not go to the list. Apologies if this is a reposting. Though I will take the opportunity to extend my comments briefly. Lüko wrote: "Labour paid not so much for their pro-capitalist policies, but for their campaigning against Scottish independence on occasion of the referendum". I agree with Lüko that the role of the Labour party in the referendum defeat was crucial. Richard Seymour points out that their pro-union stance made for a right wing campaign, btw. I am less sure than Lüko appears to be, that the pro-capitalism of the Labour Party was not involved in their defeat. Sturgeon, the leader of the SNP took a left position on austerity, immigrants and welfare. In other words, in Mair's terms, she adapted a responsive position. Or to put this in Seymour’s terms she refused to be post-democratic. The British Labour Party is still committed to being responsible, We should acknowledge Streeck’s criticism of Mair here. He points out that Mair does not draw upon political economy. If Mair had done so, he would have seen that to be responsible under Capitalism means to be responsive to the capitalist class. In other words all governments are always responding. The question is who are they responding to. The option to continue to be “responsible” is, I think, what destroyed Labour in Scotland. In 1950 the majority of MPs from Scotland were Tory. There are no Tory MPs north of the Border now and there are only three MPs not from the SNP. It is the collapse in the Catholic Labour vote that is most interesting, I think. I wish I knew more about it. In any case we agree that a political tsunami struck and where it will lead to is a matter of conjecture. But the Pasokification, as Seymor calls it, of Labour in Scotland is significant. It might indicate that the same process is likely in England. As I have said in an earlier post, I have doubts about whether Labour in England will implode like it did in Scotland. I think their anti-referendum stance made the difference in there, and to implode in England they might need to demonstrate their responsibility (i.e. treachery) with another period in government. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
