Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Class, nation and socialism: 10 years on
VINCE MILLS reflects on the Scottish independence referendum of 2014 which took place in a period of austerity following the great banking crash of 2007-08 and with deindustrialisation in full swing – a context of relevance today
YES supporters at George Square, Glasgow, ahead of the Scottish independence referendum, September 17, 2024

THE crisis of capitalism, which provided the context and to some extent fuelled the vibrant Yes campaign described by Coll McCail in his excellent article on Wednesday, is still with us.

The question which has haunted the Scottish left before and since the referendum is how we can maximise unity in order to challenge the power of capital in Britain and Scotland. 

The referendum took place during what Costas Lapavitsas in his book The State of Capitalism calls the “interregnum” that followed the great financial crash of 2007-08. The crisis, which was created, primarily, though not exclusively, through an excess of speculation by unregulated banks, was “resolved” in the core capitalist countries by state intervention — a bailout — leading to a massive expansion of the public debt.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
ENVIABLE APPROVAL RATES: A street scene from Beijing, yesterday. A 13-year study by the Harvard Ash Center, have found satisfaction with the central government running above 90 per cent – a figure no Western government has approached in living memory
Media / 12 August 2026
12 August 2026

CARLOS MARTINEZ responds to liberal hawk Simon Tisdall’s evidence-free China-bashing and asks whose agenda it really serves

AS OLD AS THE HILLS: The anti-Chinese wall: The American wall goes up as the Chinese original goes down, a 1882 cartoon by Friedrich Gratz published in Puck / Public domain
Opinion / 6 August 2026
6 August 2026

ROY WILKES takes issue with those on the left who argue immigration lowers wages — dividing resident and migrant workers only strengthens capitalist exploitation

A view of the skyline in Manchester City Centre
Politics / 13 July 2026
13 July 2026

Can Andy Burnham’s programme deliver a productive economy – or merely a softer version of capitalism, asks VINCE MILLS

marbles
BenchMarx / 7 July 2026
7 July 2026

KEVIN DONNELLY suggests that the task of transforming cultural spaces is far from over and that photography still has a key role to play