CLYDE shipyards should be used for “peaceful means” not warmongering, the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) has said.
Colin Fox, former Lothians MSP for the party between 2003 and 2007, told The National’s podcast that it was a “tragedy” that Glasgow’s shipbuilding industry is geared towards warships, rather than ferries, container ships or ocean liners.
As part of our series of party leader interviews ahead of the Holyrood election on May 7, we sat down with Fox to discuss the SSP’s policies, ranging from housing and transport to class politics and Scottish independence.
We also dove into the party’s commitment that if they return any MSPs, they would take a skilled worker's wage rather than the full salary other Scottish Parliament politicians will receive after they are elected, currently £77,711.
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“Shipbuilding is in Glasgow's DNA,” Fox told the podcast.
“The tragedy is that we only build warships. We only build ships that are going to annihilate human beings in other parts of the world, the rest of it.
“Whether it's aircraft carriers, which they're building at both Govan and in Rosyth…it's a heartbreaker for me.
“You know, when I look at, be it British Aerospace’s big plants and Leonardo's in Edinburgh, where they're making missile systems, etc, I'm always reminded of that line in Hamish Henderson’s The Freedom Come All Ye.
“He talks about how the young black kids in Nyanga Africa fear the skirl of the bagpipes and the sight of the tartan, because for them it's associated with warmongering, armies of occupation etc.
“I don't want Scotland to have a reputation or have nuclear weapons threatening the rest of the world.”
Fox noted that only nine countries in the world have nuclear weapons – the UK, Russia, United States, China, France, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea – and that the UK’s are based at Faslane, near Helensburgh.
“It's the same way ... I would far rather at Yarrows [Shipbuilders] on the Clyde and Govan, that they were building ferries, or building the ocean liners that it was famous for, or building container ships,” Fox added.
“Building things that are productive, progressive, that are aiding humanity, rather than threatening people in Iran, threatening people in Ukraine, or whoever else it might be, I don't want to be associated with that.
“I think Scotland’s had enough of that. We've suffered horrendously from that association with the British Empire.
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“We’re going to the World Cup, and we want people to take to the Scottish fans, because we're the friendliest in the world, we've got a reputation.”
Fox joked: “If only our team is as good as our fans, that would be even better, right?
“But we don't want an association with, oh, that's that country that went around the world, shooting people, killing people, sending tanks to Iraq, etc.
“I'm sure, I'm positive that in Scotland, I'm not the only person in this country that feels the same way.
“I want Scotland to be associated with helping humanity progress, not reminding about its terrible past and murdering and warmongering.
“I know we need the jobs. I know we need shipbuilding skills, but I'm perfectly clear those shipbuilding skills can be used towards peaceful ends, peaceful production, building the shipyard liners of the past, as opposed to warships and frigates and aircraft carriers.”
You can listen to the full interview on our YouTube channel, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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