Stephen Smellie reviews Keep Left – Red Paper on Scotland 2025, edited by Pauline Bryan (Luath Press: 2025).
It is strange that a publication by Gordon Brown, The Red Paper on Scotland, from 1975 is the basis for a left wing publication in 2025. Gordon Brown’s record as an Iron Chancellor and Prime Minister is hardly a beacon for left wing socialists. The significance of his original publication can only be recalled by veterans of the left and, perhaps, students of Scottish socialist history. However, that is where this book originates. It is possibly somewhat optimistic to hope that it will be able to overcome this history and fading memory and reach an audience that will welcome the collection of essays contained within it and find ideas and inspiration to join those who strive to Keep Left.
The collection contains some excellent analysis and proposals in the field of democracy, the economy, trade unions, and visions for the future. Unlike the original Red Paper, it includes several essays written by women and contains a section on culture. The failure of the Scottish Parliament to enact radical change, its centralisation of powers and its stifling of democracy at Scottish and local level is detailed in a number of pieces. Susan Galloway details how, rather than a Workers’ Parliament, we have a Procurement Parliament that whilst mitigating some of the worst aspects of a race to the bottom, “means settling for second bottom.” A section on trade unions reflects on the diminishing aspirations of trade unions from advocating “workers’ control” in the 1970s to now arguing for a “workers’ voice”, whilst Lynn Henderson describes how PCS have sought to transform how civil service workers are organised in the public sector workplace.
Contributions also cover left ideas for education, employment, and a Just Transition; the role of culture in contributing to the welfare of society; and issues of minimum wage levels and precarious contracts. Arguably, the key section in the book is on ‘Who Controls the Scottish Economy’, with an analysis of the current state of the weak, branch-like economy of Scottish capitalism. Richard Leonard reminds us how the Scottish Government has failed to develop any industrial strategy that would bring some control of the economy to Scotland. He goes on to describe some of the steps a Scottish Government that was serious about addressing our economic weakness and taking some control of the Scottish economy could take forward. This would be essential for most of the other Left proposals discussed in the book to become realistic aspirations. Yet it is a set of ideas that have been neglected by the labour movement, such that few activists, trade union leaders, MSPs and MPs are able to articulate this alternative economic strategy. This lack of political and economic education weakens all other arguments for a Left agenda.
The book is written as a programme for the Labour Party in Scotland, with Pauline Bryan listing ten things a Scottish Government must do, all of which will be familiar to people on the Labour Left. But oddly, the list does not mention policies to tackle climate change or a Just Transition, despite Rosie Hampton having a chapter on this subject. If Keep Left could reach a wider audience of workers, young people, and anyone campaigning for a better society, both in Labour but more importantly outside the party, it would be a major contribution to rebuilding a left movement. Ideas for achieving that would be as valuable as the book itself.
Stephen Smellie is the convenor of the Scottish Left Review editorial board.