The Act of Union joining the Scottish and English parliaments was signed 300 years ago on this day. In two days time the people of Scotland go to the polls to vote in elections in which the SNP look set to emerge as the majority party in Scotland for the first time in their history. That the Union may come under threat as a result has produced newspapers headlines and statements from the likes of Jack McConnell, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown which have attempted to paint a picture of independence as nothing less than a doomsday scenario for the Scottish people.

Their description of the British state as this benign force for good in the world is one that Solidarity neither recognises or accepts. Our view, supported by history, is that the British state was formed in the interests of a rising mercantile class in order to better plunder the globe. A history of rape, murder and theft is the true legacy of this mercantilist state, one which continues to the present day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every statue and monument, every grand edifice in every town and city the length and breadth of these islands, was paid for in the blood of innocent men, women and children from the Caribbean to the continents of Africa and Asia, as well as closer to home in Ireland.

Solidarity supports the break-up of the British state. We do so as internationalists, understanding Britain's role in the world as a junior partner in the cause of US imperialism to be a pernicious one, responsible for the suffering and exploitation of people in the Middle East, Africa, and throughout the developing world.

As socialists we know that political sovereignty without economic sovereignty is no sovereignty at all, which is why our vision of an independent Scotland is different from that of the SNP. We want a Scotland that is a beacon of social and economic justice, of equality and peace, a country in which those who seek sanctuary from political, economic or religious persecution are welcomed instead of locked up and vilified. Global corporations that wander the planet looking to make ever increasing profits on the back of cheap labour and natural resources would find no home here; neither would nuclear weapons or US military bases. We have a vision of a society in which the rich are taxed equitably, in which Scotland's vast wealth is redistributed fairly, and in which her resources are controlled by the people instead of a few millionaires and billionaires.

On this the 300th anniversary of the Union between Scotland and England, in solidarity with the working class and the oppressed around the world on this May Day, Solidarity clearly and unequivocally calls for the break up of the British state.