Scottish Labour and Independence

Since I was writing about Man of Steel today, I thought I’d keep up the fanciful theme by making a simple recommendation for Scottish Labour. What I think they should do is to start talking about the future of an independent Scotland in terms of old Labour values. They should say that independence would give them a chance to test the myth that Scotland is socially democratic. They should promise a Nordic style programme of redistribution and universalism. They should say that public services, free at the point of sale, are expensive and that we can only afford them if we change taxes. They should say that they are committed to reducing inequalities, so those taxes will be super-progressive. This is the solution to the current problem of devolution: we give the universal services to all without charging the better-off more to use them. If the Yes vote does not tip 50% in 2014, Scottish Labour can then say ‘well, we offered that new Scotland and you didn’t want it’. Then, they can charge for all sorts of services, arguing that if people wanted universalism they should have voted for a government with the willingness and ability to match it with redistribution.