A new publication from the Red Paper Collective Labour Voices on Scotland’s Future  contains the contributions made to the Powers for a Purpose debate at Scottish Labour Party Conference in April 2013. As well as members of the Red Paper group: Dave Watson of UNISON, Richard Leonard of GMB and Neil Findlay MSP it includes Pat Rafferty of Unite, Anas Sarwar’s introduction of the report from the Devolution Commission and Iona Macdonald whose first vote will be cast in the referendum. Copies are available from the email address below. Speakers can be provided for Labour Party, Trade Union Council or Continue reading →

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) has published a useful introductory paper on pensions and constitutional change. This is an area of the constitutional debate that has been given little attention so far. We also need to get past the lurid media headlines on the report and the equally inadequate Scottish Government brush off. Difficult issues like pensions cannot be ducked – they are too important to all of us. The paper poses questions covering the state pension, public service pensions and private pension schemes. It also recognises that Scotland only data is limited. The state pension is Continue reading →

The Red Paper is joining up with Revitalise Scottish Labour for a joint Scottish Labour Party fringe meeting to discuss a socialist approach to constitutional change. It will be held on Saturday 20 April 2013 at the Palace Hotel, Inverness starting at 12:30pm. Chair: Pauline Bryan Speakers: Neil Findlay MSP and Dave Watson Refreshments.

There has been a lot of interest in the leaked John Swinney memorandum setting out the financial consequences of independence and the Better Together campaign was quick to publish an annotated version. The main charge is the disparity between what they have been considering privately and what they have been spinning. Well shock horror, no great surprise there for any government. The interesting point when you read it in full is the similarity with the detail in the Fiscal Commission report.. So let’s examine some of the key points. They are anticipating the risk of public sector job cuts, pressures Continue reading →

Yesterday UNISON Scotland launched its latest contribution to the constitutional change debate, ‘A Fairer Scotland – Devolution’.  In the first ‘A Fairer Scotland’ paper we set out our approach to constitutional change. In common with much of the trade union movement, UNISON has not as yet taken a stance on the referendum itself. Instead the union has challenged all parties to the debate to explain how their preferred option will match UNISON’s priorities as laid out in ‘A Fairer Scotland’.  The latest document opens up a debate which has so far focused on fiscal issues and argues that new devolved Continue reading →

PRESS RELEASE RED PAPER COLLECTIVE WELCOMES YES CAMPAIGN’S RESPONSE TO THE STUC, BUT FINDS IT TIMID The Yes Campaign has demonstrated that it wants to engage with the Trade Union movement by responding to STUC’s report on A Just Scotland. Although, given the policies constraints of using a shared currency and the EU as envisaged by the Yes campaign, the document asks almost nothing which could not be answered by greater powers to a Scottish Parliament or ideally a federal arrangement within the UK . The report states that “It does not seek to guarantee or predict any one outcome from Continue reading →

The latest Red Paper seminar was held at the STUC in Glasgow today. Pauline Bryan outlined the purpose of the seminar was to influence the next Red Paper book on constitutional change. Jackson Cullinane set out the background to the Red Paper in Scotland with a class not nationalist perspective on constitutional change. Stands proudly in the Home Rule tradition of the Labour Movement going back to Keir Hardie. He was critical of the Better Together campaign because it was perceived as supporting the status quo. Can agree with much of the Radical Independence vision, but that vision is not Continue reading →