Speaking at the CfS/Morning Star meeting on Saturday 25 October, Simon Macfarlane said:

Thanks very much for the opportunity to speak today. I’m speaking as a member of the Campaign for Socialism, the left grouping in the Scottish Labour Party.

There are very few signs of the Labour Government changing their political direction in any significant way. They are changing tack as they are buffeted by the cold winds of the financial crisis, but all the evidence is their political compass remains on the same course. Which really is quite remarkable.

If ever there was the political cover to take a more radical agenda, it is now. Yet with a few exceptions, such as backing down on 42 days, which was pragmatism rather than principle, all the evidence is they are remaining on course, if not veering further to the right.

Recent statements on immigration have come close to providing succour to racists and fascists; identity cards remain firmly on the agenda; whilst within weeks of being exhumed, Madleson is talking of ditching workers’ already tokenistic flexible working entitlements. The most stark example of Labour’s approach though came this week, when Brown announced in the Commons he was issuing new advice to the Courts in England, he said that they would now have to check banks had taken all alternative steps possible prior to repossessing peoples’ homes. Why they weren’t doing this already is another matter. The point is he’s just nationalised two banks completely and bought significant shares in others, and yet he’s telling the courts how to deal with repossessions.

Its ridiculous but clear evidence that there will be no central direction of the capitalist system from the government, instead they will bale out the banks in order to let the system continue as best it can, whilst millions suffer in a recession. This debacle over courts and repossessions also showed clearly the paucity of the SNP’s response, with Nicola Sturgeon rushing to the airwaves to say Scottish courts offered better protection, instead of demanding Brown tell the banks to stop repossessing homes in the first place.

I like many others have been happy to share jokes about the Labour government finally fulfilling the 1983 manifesto, by taking over the commanding heights of the economy. But the reality is this is not nationalisation, it is the privatisation of public money. The primary drivers for the bail out of the banks were not concerns about the interests of ordinary people, it was the sheer terror that the croupiers of the capitalist casino were about to go bust.

You only have to think back two years ago, thousands of working class people were facing bleak Christmases as Farepak collapsed, wiping out their savings and forcing many in to the clutches of moneylenders, as they struggled to keep the Christmas show on the road for their families. Not for them the increase of compensation limits from £35000 to £50000 overnight, no they were left to the mercy of the markets. Their tens and hundreds of pounds were wiped out.

So I think none of us should have any illusions that the current crisis on its own will lead this government, or any successor, to reconsider the plans to replace Trident. Like nuclear power the Labour government has cast its die and will run headlong towards replacing our nuclear arsenal. What the current crisis does though is provide the left with a golden opportunity to reshape the debate and discourse.

Whilst if you read the Morning Star, other left journals and surf the blogs you will find a myriad of socialist and progressive analysis of the current shambles, I have to say I think the left has so far failed to seize the moment and to start leading public opinion. There is widespread disgust and anger amongst working people about what is going on, yet it was in America not here that people saw politicians decrying the greed and excesses of capitalism. We haven’t managed so far to direct the anger and concerns and increased political and economic awareness into support for a coherent alternative, let alone a radical socialist vision.

This is where I think Trident can become a transformative issue. The case against Trident is so complete I won’t spend time on it here. Suffice to say it is a weapon whose purpose is about supporting the military industrial complex, appeasing America and imperialism. Its use is unimaginable and would lead to the ending of any semblance of civilised life in Britain, let alone the devastation it would cause wherever it landed. As long as it exists though its use is always possible. Just remember who thought weeks ago Brown would nationalise the banks.

Where Trident is useful I think, is as an issue we can use to galvanise people and build resistance and platforms for a more socialist Britain. Opinion in this area is already fertile ground. CND Scotland’s poll in January 2007 found 73% of Scots oppose replacing Trident. Add to this opposition to the war and you have a heady mix. And opposition there is. Public opinion on Iraq has consistently been against the war since October 2004 according to the tracking poll information on YouGov’s website, which goes up to June 2007 when it stops, as presumably clients stopped paying for polling on this, when the answers were going to be so self evident.

As working class people suffer in the recession to come, and resentment grows at the cost of bailing out the banks for no social end, we should be able to lead people in mass opposition to the immense social sacrifice required to pay for Trident.

Every time there is no money to support industries to save jobs; every time there is no money for decent pay rises for public sector workers; every time services are cut – we should be saying government’s about choices if nothing else, and these are the wrong choices. Our money shouldn’t be used to bailout bankers or to procure deadly useless weapons, it should be used for the benefit of the people, protecting them from the failings of capitalism and building a more just, equal, tolerant and enlightened society.

Now as almost never before in my adult life I genuinely believe there is a chance to redirect the discourse. Maybe we can’t get to a socialist nirvana tomorrow but surely we can get to a place far better than here. As John McDonnell has said, these opportunities come once in a generation and it is the responsibility of us all to do everything we can to grab it.

So Trident, ID Cards and many other issues will provide us with a chance to make the linkages that can lead people in another direction. As Rage Against the Machine a band I like sang, Anger is a Gift. Well, Brown and the capitalist system have gifted us a lot of anger amongst working class people, its all our jobs to galvanise that and direct it. If we do that and harness the power of the people and provide leadership from the left then I believe we can win many impressive victories including the scrapping of Trident. So lets do it, we’ve a world to win.