Social Justice and the SNP

Abstract

This chapter describes the understanding of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on social justice. The economic development and opposition to nuclear weapons are in the SNP's political DNA. Electoral rivalry with the Labour Party is the most important and the SNP called itself ‘social democratic’. The movement in the SNP's understanding of social justice towards mainstream social democracy was affected by increasing reference to Norway and other Scandinavian models. Margaret Thatcher's promotion of a liberalised market as an indispensable source of economic dynamism struck a chord with sections of the party leadership looking for ways of injecting new vitality into the Scottish economy. The implementation of the SNP's 2007 manifesto commitment to engage and empower individuals and communities has been selective. The inescapable challenge for the SNP is to integrate its case for Scottish independence with the transformational social and economic policies which the multiple global crisis demands.