Katy Clark suggests the appetite for social change can be satisfied

The result is now known but the referendum fallout looks as if it will be with us for a long time to come. The last few months have divided communities, the labour movement and fundamentally shifted the political landscape. Although many of those who have engaged with the debate were clearly motivated by progressive values, left wing ideas particularly about economics were far from central.

The ‘vows’ promised by the Westminster party leaders need to be delivered. But constitutional change can only be a vehicle to delivering social justice. There needs to be a far higher degree of honesty about the political failure of Holyrood so far to do what is in its power and a clear message that the delivery of further powers comes with an obligation to use them. If the Parliament does not get the powers it needs to do that we need to be clear what further powers are needed. Up until now there has not been significant enough political will to even re-regulate the buses in Scotland, never mind take on a more radical redistribution of wealth. There is no one making the case for progressive taxation and, indeed, the message from the nationalists has been simply that it is not sensible to have higher rates of tax than the rest of the UK, whether independent or not.

The left needs to argue that a race to the bottom is in no one’s interests. Whatever your stance in the referendum, we need to focus on what needs to be done to build council houses, regenerate our manufacturing base, reskill our population, develop the green economy and a serious arms diversification strategy, and promote public ownership.

So what does that mean? Yes it means giving the Scottish Parliament the power to run our railways but more importantly it means planning to bring it back into public ownership and control the moment the legislation is there to make it happen.

It was clear throughout the campaign the levels of frustration and despair caused by austerity economics, the erosion of the welfare state, and the falls in living standards. Yet there was little serious debate in the campaign about how an independent Scotland would take on Austerity Europe, about the spending restrictions which would be imposed in any currency union or the problems with an independent currency. Austerity is a choice for the UK, it would be far less so for an independent Scotland. The failure of the leadership of the Yes campaign to take on these issues and to have answers to the simple questions being asked of them on the economy must have seriously undetermined their ability to succeed. Ordinary people recognised that what they were being presented with was a wish list of promises with no strategy to pay for them. Where was the money coming from?

The result is anything but a mandate for the status quo. The major parties have been promised more devolution and it is important to ensure that they deliver on this pledge. However, it would be wrong to focus only on constitutional matters, while ignoring class, poverty, social justice and austerity, which were the major issues throughout the referendum campaign. The task of the left is to ensure that these are central in this post-referendum period and that devolution proposals are centred on achieving social justice.

There will continue to be differences on the left over the issue of independence and devolution. However, it is important that socialists and trade unionists do not focus on only on the matters we disagree on. We must work to rebuild bridges and to push issues of class and social justice up the political agenda. Isolation and infighting will only weaken us at this critical time. Organisations like the People’s Assembly against Austerity offer a chance to unite the left and union movement around a common cause and to shift the politics in the run up to the Westminster general election next year.

The greatest success of the referendum has been engagement. Across the country thousands of people have been involved in both the Yes and No campaigns. Meetings, stalls and events have been held in every city, town and village. Thousands of young people have become engaged in politics for the first time. An agenda focused on social justice will encourage them to stay involved.

In my view the result represented a vote for solidarity over separatism. Others, of course, have a different view. But what we can all agree on is the real appetite for real political and social change. To deliver that it is now vital to ensure that issues of class, and social justice are at the top of the agenda in the post-referendum period.

Katy Clark is (Labour) MP for North Ayrshire and Arran