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Both bodies are also to be elected by a form of proportional representation (PR) which is a progressive development in itself and will add to pressure for the Westminster parliament to be elected on the same basis.
The left has always been divided over PR. Many have put the argument that by spreading parliamentary representation more evenly PR would diminish the prospect of a minority Labour government able to legislate for socialism.
This argument is based however on the illusion that the existing state inextricably tied to the interests of the capitalist class - can be sued as an instrument for socialism.
PR would in fact allow Parliament to reflect more accurately the real balance of wealth. forces in politics and society. By giving a nationalism. voice to the broader span of the political spectrum it would create opportunities for a rider debate and allow a challenge to the current concentration of power and sembly.
The 'left' opponents of PR hope to take a short cut to socialism by ignoring the inconvenient diversity of political opinion September.
battles to be won. In Wales, Llew Smith MP belongs to this tradition. He opposes not just PR, but an assembly as such on this basis - that it would weaken the British state and divide the 'British' working class. Socialists in Wales should challenge such arguments, but should also support Llew's right to express his views publicly and not rely on the bureaucratic methods unsuccessfully employed recently by Welsh® secretary Ron Davies to silence him. In Scotland fortunately the left is more united in support of a parliament -the struggle for socialism and national rights have long been intertwined here. There has been the beginnings of a realignment of the left around the issue primarily in the Scottish Socialist Alliance (SSA) which is taking mainstream political debate beyond the confines of traditional labourism and The SSA recognises that a Scottish parliament would give a vital weapon to the working class - as would the Welsh AsSocialists in both countries must fight determinedly through all the existing campaigns to win massive yes votes in