Campaign for Democracy in the UK
Scotland, Wales & N Ireland |
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The list of demands of the campaign includes the following demand in relation to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (in red followed by an explanation in black):
- The right for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly to decide a policy relevant to its area of the UK, if it votes to remove the policy from Westminster. This may include abolishing the council tax in their areas in favour of a local income tax, renationalising Scottish or Welsh rail companies without compensation (except for pension schemes which may have invested some money in them), or modifying income tax levels, for the rich or poor, by any amount.
This is a basic demand of self-determination. It does not preclude the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly from going further and opting for independence – but I’d be in favour of a referendum if independence was proposed (no political party, with the possible exception of UKIP which advocates independence from the European Union, advocates independence without a referendum).
I am encouraging people to set up local groups adopting similar or identical lists of demands to those that I am putting forward for the UK-wide campaign. I will help to set up a Welsh group based in Cardiff, probably called the Campaign for Democracy in Wales. In order to set up the Welsh campaign, I will play a leading role in building a Welsh Democratic Socialist Alliance (WDSA) based in Cardiff. The Welsh campaign for democracy will discuss what demands to put forward for more powers for the Welsh Assembly, linked to demands for more democracy in the UK as a whole. Hopefully, we will be able to organise a large demonstration outside the Welsh Assembly.
After the Welsh Assembly demonstration, I suggest that we have a UK-wide conference and demonstration. I am planning to divide most of my time in the coming period between Manchester, Glasgow and the Cardiff area. If I am also able to get some sort of groups going in Manchester and Glasgow, then it may be best to hold the conference and demonstration in Manchester as an easy place for everyone to get to. However, if there is much more interest in Wales than elsewhere then Cardiff may be a better venue.