LABOUR AND SCOTTISH NATIONALISM

LABOUR AND SCOTTISH NATIONALISM

LABOUR AND SCOTTISH NATIONALISM Michael Keating and David Bleiman

Michael Keating and David Bleiman 1979 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1979 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1979 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in Delhi Dublin Hong Kong Johannesburg Lagos Melbourne New York Singapore Tokyo British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Keating, Michael J Labour and Scottish nationalism. 1. Nationalism-Scotland-History- 2oth century 2. Labor and laboring classes- Scotland - History -20th century 3 Scotland - Politics and government- 2oth century I. Title II. Bleiman, David 322'4'2'09411 DA826 ISBN 978-1-349-04680-5 ISBN 978-1-349-04678-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-04678-2 This book is sold subject to the standard conditions of the Net Book Agreement

To the many kind people in Scotland who extended such a warm welcome to the authors

Contents Acknowledgements Priface IX XI Introduction I. The working class and the nation II. The peasant's stockpot: political thought and policy in the Labour Party 1 3 2 Home Rule and the Origins of the Scottish Labour Movement 2I 1. Scotland and the Union 2 I II. Radicals and Home Rule 27 III. The growth of Scottish trade unionism, I 88o-I 9 I 4 32 IV. Land, labour and Home Rule 45 v. The emergence of independent Labour 49 3 The Nationalist Phase: Rise and Decline, I9I4-3I 59 1. The rise of the Home Rule campaign II. Climax and slump in the campaign III. Parting of the ways 59 79 IOI 4 Nationalism on the Fringes 1. Labour and Scotland in the I 930s II. Home Rule agitation revived I09 109 I25 5 Labour under Assault 1. The Labour ascendancy, I959-66 II. Labour under attack, Ig67-74 III. I974: the move to devolution IV. The politics of devolution, I974-8 vii

Vlll CONTENTS 6 Conclusion Notes Index I. Towards a territorial politics? 11. The devolutionist view 111. The anti-devolutionist view IV. An open question 189 189 190 194 199 200 210

Acknowledgements Many people have helped the authors in their work. Valuable advice, criticism and assistance were given by Chris Allen, John Barber, Jack Brand, Henry Drucker, Judith Ennew, Christopher Harvie, David Heald, Barry Jones, Gareth Stedman Jones, Ann Keating, James Kirkwood, the late George Lawson, Ian McAllister, Ian MacDougal, Ian Maclean, Don Maciver, James Milne, Henry Pelling, Richard Rose, Brian Wilson, the late Arthur Woodburn and Alf Young. Welcome and hospitality were given by Mr and Mrs Chalmers Geoffrey and Marjorie Gowlett, Martin Hilland, Paddy and Peggy McCusker, everyone at the Labour Party Scottish Council and the Scottish Trade Union Congress, and the staff and students at Reith Hall of Residence, University of Strathclyde. Thanks are further due to the Social Science Research Council for grants to David Bleiman and to the Nuffield Foundation for grants to Michael Keating; to Pauline Kelly, who typed the manuscript; to colleagues, especially library staffs, at North Staffordshire Polytechnic and Cambridge; and to the Mitchell Library, Glasgow and the National Library of Scotland. Naturally, any errors of fact or of judgement remain the sole responsibility of the authors. ix

Preface This book is derived from two research projects undertaken by the authors, at North Staffordshire Polytechnic and King's College, Cambridge, between 1975 and 1978. Inevitably, our work is influenced by our own political views and values and it is as well to state these at the outset. We are both active members of the Labour Party but are divided in our attitude to devolution. Michael Keating is a supporter of devolution to Scotland and, while critical of the performance of the Labour Government on the issue between 1974 and 1979, believes that the proposals of the Scotland Act 1978 provide a useful beginning for a general programme of devolution. David Bleiman, on the other hand, is an opponent of devolution. However, we consider that our different views on the merits of the policy of devolution serve to strengthen rather than to weaken our analysis of the history of the issue. We believe that a careful historical analysis of the development of the labour movement in Scotland is essential to an understanding of its present position and that previous accounts have suffered from their attempts to combine such analysis with partisan polemic. We start with a consideration of the relationship between nationalist and socialist movements, examining the philosophical rationale and basis of support of each. Then we describe the place of Home Rule in the origins of the Scottish labour movement. Chapter 3 examines the upsurge of nationalism in the movement around the time of the First World War and its subsidence as Scottish Labour became firmly committed to the United Kingdom. We then look at Labour's attitude to the Scottish question in the 1930s, finding that, contrary to the view of many writers, this was not a fruitful period for Scottish nationalism. In the same chapter, Labour's reactions to the Scottish National Party's successes in wartime by-elections and to the Covenant movement of the 1940s is examined. Chapter 5 takes us up to the present day, covering Labour and trade-union attitudes to the revival of nationalism since the late 196os and the controversial decision of 1974 to adopt the policy of devolution. In XI

Xll PREFACE the conclusion, we examine the options open to the movement at the present time. Here we depart from our agreed analysis to present the pro- and anti-devolution views as currently expressed within the labour movement. We offer no blueprint for the constitutional future of the United Kingdom, but we do hope that, in addition to providing a historical analysis of a neglected area, our work will make some small contribution to public debate about the issues raised. December 1978 Michael Keating David Bleiman