For a Federal Republic Communists call for a Federal Republic that provides Home Rule for Scotland and Wales and also enables working class unity to be developed across the nations of Britain. The Federal Parliament would exer- cise control over currency, banking, interest rates, taxes on wealth and capital, foreign policy and defence. All other powers would be devolved to national parliaments – including taxes on income and consumption and the power to intervene industri- ally and develop public ownership of infrastructure and production. The Federal Parliament would be constitutionally required to redis- tribute income derived from taxes on wealth and profits in light of social need across the nations and regions of Britain. Challenging Big Business Power The power of big business is concentrated at British level. Most of the big companies that own the Scottish economy are based in London. They depend on the Brit- ish state to support them – as when the British Treasury bailed out the banks in 2008. They use the British state against working people – in terms of anti-trade union laws and a labour force policed by penal policies against the unemployed. And the wealth they accumulate is concen- trated in the south-east and invested overseas through the City of London. This is why the independence called for by the SNP would leave all the key levers of big business power over Scotland still in their hands. The currency, interest rates and government borrowing would be all controlled from London; the European Union would continue to enforce neo-liberal market control – outlawing public ownership and state aid to industry. But working people in Scotland would have no democratic way of contesting that power. Communists do not believe that constitutions by themselves can resolve problems of class power and exploitation. Only political action by working people and their allies can do that. But constitutions can help or hinder this process. Independence on SNP terms would directly prevent working people in Scotland from join- ing with their fellow workers in Wales and England in challenging big business power at British level. A Federal state would enable working people across Britain to do so – to demand greater taxa- tion on wealth, greater redistribu- tion across Britain and the dis- mantling of the anti-trade union laws that restrict organisation by the great majority of us who have to work for a living. Why class unity is essential The ConDem Coalition launched an unprecedented attack on work- ing people. They claimed the budget deficit was caused by undue spending on social services. It wasn’t. It was caused by bailing out the bankers. They demanded cuts on a scale not seen since the 1930s. They allowed wages to be forced down by over 10 per cent and at the same cut taxes on wealth and profits – with the richest 1,000 doubling their wealth to over £530 bil- lion (equivalent to almost two-thirds of the National Debt). Now they propose further attacks on trade unions, further attacks on the poorest and further tax cuts for the wealthy. Only organisation by working people can reverse this assault – trade unions, communities, all those who are vulner- able and need support. The Commu- nist Party backs the People’s Assembly as the first step in creating an alliance that can in turn transform politics from below and, in particular, ensure the Labour Party returns to the socialist objectives set by its founders. Devo Max is a Trap Making Scotland solely reliant on taxes raised in Scotland stops the redistribu- tion of wealth across Britain. The pro- ceeds from Scottish revenues, includ- ing oil and gas, will be far too small to make up the current deficit. Depending on whether oil prices recover and how fast oil extraction declines, Scotland could be poorer by anything between £4 billion and £10 billion – more than the Tories have already cut. The SNP case for Devo Max is that by controlling all taxes they could grow the economy by attracting more investment – espe- cially external. But that will mean cut- ting taxes on big business even further. Communist Party Scottish Election Manifesto 2015 FOR WORKING CLASS UNITY AND A FEDERAL REPUBLIC Trident, NATO and the Drive to War Trident - Britain’s nuclear weapon system - is a relic of the last Cold War. It is dangerous, unaffordable and militarily useless in today’s world. And opinion polls show that it is extremely unpopu- lar. Over the next decade it will consume over one third of Britain’s defence procurement budget and divert resources away from spending to meet social need. 2016 will be the crunch year for Trident - the UK parliament will decide whether to go ahead with the Trident replacement pro- gramme. After that date the main contracts will be signed and it will be harder to stop. Just 18 months ago the UK parliament voted down a ConDem motion to take us into war against Syria - preventing a new Mid- dle East war and for the first time breaking ranks with the US. This happened after a decade of anti-war campaigning. We can do the same with the Trident programme. NATO and the new Cold War There is a growing threat of war in Europe. It is a crisis triggered by the aggressive expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). When the Cold War ended, instead of being wound up, NATO was expanded from 16 members to 28, moving into eastern and southern Europe and posing a new threat to Russia. The real purpose of the alliance is to provide a cover for the spread of US power - binding other countries into support for US foreign policy and US-led overseas military intervention. And now NATO is using the crisis in Ukraine - a crisis largely cre- ated by the US-inspired coup in that country - to ratchet up the military stakes: a new NATO Spearhead force of 5,000 troops ready to attack Russia within 48 hours backed up by a larger force of 25,000 troops to be de- ployed within 4 weeks new NATO bases and command centres in 6 coun- tries of Eastern Europe all adding to the military encirclement of Russia. The Cold War plays into the hands of military hawks - those determined to push ahead with a new generation of nuclear weap- ons and increase UK defence spending. 2016: CRUNCH YEAR FOR TRIDENT Communists say: Scrap Trident and spend the money on health, education and welfare Support the campaign for a global ban on nuclear weapons as advocated by 140 countries across the world Break the ‘special relation- ship’ that binds us to US policy and support for US- led wars around the world. Get out of NATO - an aggressive military alliance controlled by the United States Zoe Hennessy, leader of the Young Communist League, lives in Anniesland and has a degree from the Glasgow University. Active in her trade union, she is 24 years old and works in a supermar- I am proud to stand as a candidate for the Commu- nist Party. Our party has a long tradition of campaigning and organising in the trade union move- ment and in Scottish communities to fight for a better standard of life for working people. In the last five years the Con-Dem government has waged a relentless war on working people and their families in an attempt to claw back all the gains we have won since the Second World War. Their austerity agenda is not about fixing a deficit, it is about maximising profits for the super rich whilst ordi- nary people are made to suffer. Yet the Labour Party leadership has failed to stand on the side of working people and is pledged to continue austerity. The SNP have pandered to big business, and not working people. They have voted down the living wage, they want tax breaks for big business and have pushed local councils into making massive cuts in spending. I am standing in order to challenge both the SNP and Labour on their commitment to stand up for working people and end austerity. ZOE HENESSY for Glasgow North West