Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
A new referendum will distract from the class struggle
A vote on Scottish independence only eight years since the last will replace this new unifying wave of worker militancy and strikes with a disabling polarisation between right-wing unionism and nationalism, warns JOHNNIE HUNTER
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaking during an event in Edinburgh to outline Scottish independence plans. Issue date: Sunday June 26, 2022.

FIRST MINISTER Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement of plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence last month came off the back of Britain-wide RMT rail strikes which captured the public imagination and inspired trade unionists across the country to be bold again.

In the face of an intense so-called cost-of-living crisis, organised labour is standing up and fighting back with a determination not seen for some time — from the Glasgow cleansing workers to the railworkers and university staff across Britain, to the recent CWU national ballot.

For the left and labour movement in Scotland these developments offer an electrifying change to disabling polarisation between right-wing unionism and nationalism.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Andy Burnham with NI leaders
Ireland / 30 August 2026
30 August 2026

Despite Andy Burnham’s declaration defending the continued partition of the island, all major international and internal trends are converging to make Irish reunification inevitable

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar
Leadership race / 3 August 2026
3 August 2026

Scotland’s Labour members deserve a real choice — and if continuity Sawar is all they get, the end is nigh for the party, says VINCE MILLS

 Lord Radcliffe, who conducted an investigative tribunal after a series of ‘spy scandals’ during Harold Macmillan’s premiership
History / 9 November 2025
9 November 2025

In part II of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY explores how witch-hunting drives took hold in the Civil Service as the cold war emerged in the wake of WWII

MARCHING FORWARDS: Communists protest against the Unite the Kingdom rally in London, September 13 2025
Features / 6 October 2025
6 October 2025

The CPB's congress aims to build the united front against monopoly capitalism, utilising the YCL’s promising new generation of militants — but our party remains far from the strength history requires of it, despite recent progress, writes JOHNNIE HUNTER