Emancipation & Liberation

Aug 09 2017

A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

Category: Against Unionism,England,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,The EU,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 3:32 pm

Socialists are now confronted with the unexpected rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the re-emergence of British Left social democracy. This first part of this article by Allan Armstrong will examine the significance of this and make a critical appraisal of their future prospects in the face of the current global multi-faceted political, economic, social, cultural and environmental crisis.

Contents of Part 1

1. From May 2007 to June 2017 – the SNP rules the social democratic roost in Scotland.

2. The rise of Jeremy Corbyn and British Left social democracy

3. The prospects for Corbyn and British Left social democracy when handling economic and social issues

4. The limitations of Corbyn and British Left social democracy when dealing with matters of state

A. Brexit

B. The National Question

a. Conservative, liberal and unionist attempts to maintain the unity of the UK state since the nineteenth century

b. Corbyn and the National Question in Ireland

c. Corbyn and the National Question in Scotland

d. Corbyn and the National Question in Wales

1. From May 2007 to June 2017 – the SNP rules the social democratic roost in Scotland

i. Following the demise of New Labour and its successor, ‘One Nation’ Labour, the SNP has been the most effective upholder of social democracy in the UK. In 2007, the SNP won 363 council seats; 425 in 2012, and 431 in 2017. In 2007, the SNP won 47 MSPs; 69 in 2011; and 63 in 2016, (still easily the largest party at Holyrood). In 2010, the SNP won 6 MPs; 56 out of 59 in 2015, but fell back to 35 in 2017 (still having the largest number of MPs from Scotland by some way). Continue reading “A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY”

Tags: 'Blatcherism', 'Butskellism', 'Devo-Max', 'English'-Welsh, 'One Nation Labour', 'Singapore with a union jack, 'Spirit of 45', 2007-8 Banking Crash, 2012 Welfare Reform Act, 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts, 79 Group, Alex Salmond, Alex Tspiras, Alternative Economic Strategy, Author: Allan Armstrong, AWL, Bernadette McAliskey, Better Together, Brexit, British Left social democracy, British monarchy, Campaign for Socialism, Cardiff Bay, Chuka Umanna, Clive Lewis, Common Programme, conservtive unionism, CPB, CPGB, Crown-in-Westminster, cultural renaissance, David Cameron, Devolution-all-round, Duncan Smith, DUP, Ed Miliband, Emmanuel Macron, Empire2, England, Europhobic, Eurosceptic, Far Right, Federalism, Francois Mitterand, George Galloway, Good Friday Agreement, Gordon Brown, Grenfell Flats, Holyrood, House of Lords, IndyRef1, indyref2, Ireland, Irish Civil Rights Movement, Irish Republican Movement, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, John Trickett, Kate Hoey, Kezia Dugdale, Kier Starmer, Labour Friends of Israel, Labour Party, language issue, Leanne Wood, Len McCluskey, liberal unionism, loyalists, Mhairi Black, Micael Gove, Militant, Momentum, Neil Findlay MSP, neo-Keynesianism, New Labour, New Unionism, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Norther Ireland, Orange Order, Plaid Cymru, PUP, Radical Independence Campaign, reactionary unionism, Scotland, Scottish Labour Party, SDLP, Seamus Milne, Single Market, Sinn Fein, SNP, Social Chapter, St. Andrews Agreement, Stormont, Stormont Agreement, SWP, SYRIZA, Theresa May, Tommy Sheppard, Tony Benn, Tony Blair, Tory Right, Trident, TUV, UDA, UK state, UKIP, unionist state, UUP, UVF, Vladimir Putin, Wales, Welsh-British, Welsh-Welsh, Westminster

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Jul 07 2017

TWO REVOLUTIONS?

Category: Against Unionism,England,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Political Campaigns,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 3:45 pm

Steve Freeman reports on the politics displayed at the Left Unity Party’s conference held on June 24th in London. This was first published as a letter in Weekly Worker (http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1162/letters/)

TWO REVOLUTIONS?

Jeremy quite happy with the Crown

On June 24, Left Unity members met in conference to consider the way ahead in the next period. Members are aware of the powerful forces pulling the party to the right. But conference revealed a struggle over whether the party should respond by moving to the right or shifting to the left. The general election sharpened up the issues. Should Left Unity carry on as before, or join the ‘Corbyn revolution’, or become the party of ‘democratic revolution’?

A resolution from Birmingham says: “The ‘Corbyn revolution’ has for the foreseeable future closed the electoral space to the left of Labour.” It has “unleashed expectations which can’t be met within the confines of the existing structures of the Labour Party”. This will spill onto the streets, in campaigns and communities. Like a whirlpool, this ‘revolution’ is pulling LU down the plug. Continue reading “TWO REVOLUTIONS?”

Tags: 'Blair revolution', 'Corbyn revolution', 'democratic deficit', 'Thatcher revolution', 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 2016 EU referendum, 2017 Labour Manifesto, BBC, Democratic Revolution, DUP, England, George Osborne, Glastonbury, House of Lords, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Left Unity Party, NHS, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Scottish Labour, SNP, social monarchy, Theresa May, Tory press, Wales

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Jul 07 2017

ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th

Category: Against Unionism,England,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Political Campaigns,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,SSP and SWP,The crisis on the Left,The Socialist Republican Break-up of the UK,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 3:18 pm

Allan Armstrong was delegated at the RISE National Forum held in Edinburgh on 8th April to be its representative at the LUP conference on May 20th. Due to the General Election this was postponed to June 24th. Attached is the full version of the talk he prepared for the conference held in London. In the event, because of time constraints, the oral version was slightly abridged.

This was first posted on the LUP blog:- http://leftunity.org/rise-speaker-addresses-lu-conference/

ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th

I would like to thank the LUP for providing me with the time to address your conference as a visiting representative from RISE.

Many of you here today are old enough to remember the heyday of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), which had a considerable impact throughout the UK. The SSP united the overwhelming majority of socialists in Scotland and at its height had 6 MSPs. It inspired the Socialist Alliance (SA) in England and Wales. Although the SP and the SWP managed to sabotage the SA the SSP’s downfall was an almost entirely Scottish affair. This can be largely laid at the feet of a certain Tommy Sheridan.

After 2004, socialists in Scotland were very divided. IndyRef1, though, provided an opportunity for socialists to regain political influence. Young socialists, largely unaffected by ‘Tommygate’, initiated the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) in 2012. This coalition, or united front, brought together, not only many of the previously divided socialists, but the Left in the SNP and the Greens and a majority not involved in any party. Continue reading “ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th”

Tags: 'Tommygate', 2017 Labour Manifesto, Author: Allan Armstrong, Brexit, David Miliband, Dennis Canavan, DUP, Glastonbury, Greens, Holyrood, House of Lords, IndyRef1, Jeremy Corbyn, Left Unity Party, Len McCluskey, London Peoples Assembly, Nicola Sturgeon, Northern Ireland, Privy Council, Radical Independence Campaign, RISE - Scotland's Left Alliance, Scotland, Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Socialist Party, Shami Chakrabarti, Sinn Fein, SNP, Syrian War, The National Question, Theresa May, Trident, UNITE, Westminster General Election 2017

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Apr 07 2017

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON ‘THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND’

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,Ireland,Russia and ex-USSR,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 6:56 pm

Allan Armstrong makes some observations on The Commonwealth of England written by Steve Freeman (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/04/07/the-commonwealth-of-england/). He examines the likely role that federalism will play in IndyRef2, drawing on the historical precedents for its use in the UK and USSR.

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND

There is a great deal I agree with in Steve’s article. In a later contribution to this discussion I would like to develop Steve’s historic analysis, going back to the days of the Levellers, through the Chartists and on to the Suffragettes. However, in these observations, I will confine myself to the issue of federalism.

The politics of federalism, whenever it has been raised within the UK, has always represented a last ditch unionist attempt to preserve the UK. The political origins of the idea of British federalism go back to the first attempts to hold together the British Empire in North America, when faced by the challenge of American republicanism. It failed. A federal UK has been Liberal Party policy for over a century, with no obvious effect on the UK constitution. The challenge of Irish republicanism and the War of Independence from 1919, led to a Westminster Speakers’ Conference. This recommended a federal solution for the UK. It too failed. Although the UK state did instead, after Loyalist pogroms and reactionary Partition, come up with the earliest form of political Devolution in the UK – Stormont. No wonder it was difficult for others later to win support for devolution in Scotland and Wales, when Stormont formed the precedent!
Continue reading “SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON ‘THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND’”

Tags: American republicanism, Author: Allan Armstrong, Commonwealth of England Scotland and Wales, Commonwealth of Independent States, Crown-in-Parliament, England, Federalism, Gordon Brown, Greater Englanderism, Irish Republicanism, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Kezia Dugdale, Liberal Party, liberal unionism, Little Englanderism, Mikhail Gorbachev, reactionary unionism, Stormont, Theresa May, Tony Benn, Union of Sovereign States, USSR, Westminster

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Dec 26 2016

SCOTLAND’S REPUBLIC

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,How they are organised,Ireland,Scotland,The EU,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 7:29 pm

Steve Freeman of the Republican Socialist Alliance, RISE and LUP, looks at possible futures for the UK in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

SCOTLAND’S REPUBLIC

In her speech to the Tory conference Theresa May promised the Brexit revolution which would bring power back to the UK. She declared “change is going to come” in what she described as a “quiet revolution”. The “roots of the revolution run deep” in Britain because this was “a revolution in which millions of our fellow citizens stood up and said they were not prepared to be ignored anymore” (1).
Continue reading “SCOTLAND’S REPUBLIC”

Tags: 'Great Rebellion', 1688 Glorious Revolution, 1707 Act Of Union, 1916-22 Irish Revolution, Author: Steve Freeman, Bank of England, Boris Johnson, Brexit, England, Gerard Winstanley, Jeremy Warner, London - eight emirate, LUP, Nicola Sturgeon, Northern Ireland 1968-98, RISE, Scotland, Theresa May, United Kingdom and British Empire, Wales, Yemen

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Dec 08 2016

DEBATES AND DISCUSSIONS ON THE EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION BLOG ABOUT THE EU AND MIGRATION

Our Emancipation & Liberation blog has posted articles about the EU and Migration since it was set up. The earlier postings covered the Republican Communist Network’s involvement, when it was a platform in the Scottish Socialist Party. The first debate was in 2002 over whether the SSP should back joining the euro in the event of a referendum over the issue. The majority in the SSP was anti-euro, although there was a small pro-euro minority. The RCN formed another minority, which was for a campaign of active abstention.
Continue reading “DEBATES AND DISCUSSIONS ON THE EMANCIPATION & LIBERATION BLOG ABOUT THE EU AND MIGRATION”

Tags: 'It's a Free World', 1993 Lisbon Treaty, 2009 Lisbon Treaty, 2016 Euro-referendum, Angela Merkel, Another Europe Is Possible, Anther Europe Is Possible, Apple and Ireland, Author: Adam Majos, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Bill Scott, Author: Corina Lotz, Author: Eric Chester, Author: Mary McGregot, Author: Matthew Jones, Author: Murdo Ritchie, Author: Sharat G Lin, Author: Steve Freeman, Battlefield Band, Brexit, Campaign for a European Republican Socialist Party, Catalunya, CUP, David Cameron, debate over euro currenct, DiEM25, Donald Trump, European Anti-Capitlist Left, European democratic revolution, European Economic Community, European Union, German CDU/SDP coalition, Gordon Brown, Greece, Ken Loach, Left Unity Party, Lexit, Manu Chaio, Marine Le Pen, migrant rights, National Front, Nigel Farage, No One Is Illegal, No2EU, Radical Independence, Republican Communist Network, RISE, Socialist Democracy (Ireland), Socialist Party of England and Wales, Socialist Party Scotland, Socialist Workers Party, SSP, SYRIZA, The Campaogn for a European Republican Socialist Party, UK, UKIP

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Dec 07 2016

BUILDING AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN RISE AND LEFT UNITY

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,Ireland,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,Wales — RCN @ 1:09 pm

RISE held a national members’ meeting in Glasgow on saturday 3rd December. The leaflet ‘Building an alliance between RISE and Left Unity’ was circulated. Steve Freeman and Allan Armstrong (of the Republican Socialist Alliance – RSA) addressed the meeting. Steve has subsequently written a report for Left Unity. These two ianti-Unionist alliance items have been posted below.

This is followed by giving the links to articles on this blog which have argued for greater unity, on an anti-unionist basis, between the RSA , the Radical Independence Campaign, the Left Unity Party and RISE.

1. BUILDING AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN RISE AND LEFT UNITY

Steve Freeman speaking at first Left Unity Conference

Preamble

Left Unity was set up in 2013 to organise a party standing in opposition to neo-liberalism and the politics of New Labour. The party aimed to unite democratic socialists and communists into one party to resist austerity politics. The majority of LU members were in England with a small membership in Scotland and Wales. Left Unity had no policy on the national question until the Scottish referendum in 2014 when the party voted to take an abstention position.
Continue reading “BUILDING AN ALLIANCE BETWEEN RISE AND LEFT UNITY”

Tags: 2014 Scottish referendum, 2016 EU referendum, anti-Unionist alliance, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Steve Freeman, Donald Trump, Environment, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Left Unity Party, Momentum, RRadical Independence campaign, SNP, SSP

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Dec 03 2016

WHICH WAY NOW – ‘BREXIT’ OR ‘EX-BRIT’?

Category: Against Imperialism,Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,No One Is Illegal,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,The EU,The global economy,UK state/British imperialism,US imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 2:02 am

Allan Armstrong, of the Campaign for a European Republican Socialist Party, draws some political conclusions from the online discussion (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2016/11/20/from-farages-brexit-to-trumps-brexit-plus-plus-plus-and-on-to-madame-frexit/) of the political situation in the UK in the aftermath of the Trump vote.

_________

WHICH WAY NOW – ‘BREXIT’ OR ‘EX-BRIT’?

a) Brexit and the change in British ruling class thinking

Since the Brexit vote, the Tories, under Theresa May’s leadership, have been moving away from the recently shared politics of the majority of the British ruling class and mainstream British political parties. A central feature of these politics was based upon the globalised neo-liberal economics pushed by Margaret Thatcher, in the interests of a turbo-charged City of London. The City had really taken off after Nigel Lawson’s ‘Big Bang’ deregulation in 1983. Following New Labour’s 1996 election victory, they adopted the same unquestioning pro-City path. This was shown when Chancellor Gordon Brown abolished the few remaining government controls over the City’s operations. Under Tony Blair, Butskellism gave way to Blatcherism.
Continue reading “WHICH WAY NOW – ‘BREXIT’ OR ‘EX-BRIT’?”

Tags: "English votes for English laws", 'Blatcherism', 'British roads to socialism', 'Ex-Brit', 'Project Fear', 'Project Hate', 'Project Hope', 'Ulster'-British, 1992 Maastricht Treaty, 2003 Iraq War, 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 2016 EU referendum, Alternative for Germany, Angela Merkel, Anti-Nazi League, Arkadiusz Jozwik, austerity, Author: Allan Armstrong, Belfast Flag Riots, Bernadette McAliskey, Better Together, Boris Johnson, Brexit, British Socialist Party, Britishness, Bustkellism, Campaign for aEuropean Republican Socialist Party, CDU/SDP coaltion, Christian Democracy, City of London, Committee for a Workers International, Communist Party of Britain, Communist Party of Great Britain, Conservative Party, conservative unionism, David Cameron, Democratic Unionist Party, Devolution-all-round, Donald Trump, Downing Street Agreement, EEC, EU, George Bush, George Galloway, George Osborne, Germany, Gordon Brown, Greece, Iceland, indyref2, Intrnational Socialist Tendency, Ireland, Jo Cox, John Major, Kate Hoey, LeaveEU, Left Unity Party, Lexit, liberal unionism, loyalists, Margaret Thatcher, Marine Le Pen, migration, National Front France, NATO, neo-fascists, neo-Keynesianism, neo-liberalism, New Labour, New Unionism, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Nigel Lawson, Peace Process, Philip Hammond, Putin, reactionary unionism, Red Paper Collective, Richard Haas, Right national populism, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Scottish Socialist Alliance, Scottish Socialist Party, Scottish-British, Social Democracy, Social Democratic Federation, Socialist Party of England and Wales, Socialist Party Scotland, Socialist Workers Party (Great Britain), SWP, Theresa May, Tony Blair, Tory Right, UKIP, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Welsh-British

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Nov 29 2016

LITTLE ENGLAND

Category: Against Imperialism,Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,The EU,The global economy,UK state/British imperialism,US imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 1:31 pm

We are posting the following letter by Steve Freeman of the Left Unity Party and RISE which addresses some of the politics underlying Brexit.

LITTLE ENGLAND

The iconic picture of Trump with Farage reveals a certain truth about Brexit. Here we have a glimpse of reality, entirely absent from the Tory referendum. We can invent our own dialogue. Farage says: ‘Donald, I am handing you the UK on a plate.’ Trump, thumbs up, replies: ‘Thanks. I’ll take Scotland as my golf course, the NHS and more tax breaks for American multinationals. I want free trade deals to benefit America and no more wind farms.’
Continue reading “LITTLE ENGLAND”

Tags: 'free trade', Author: Steve Freeman, Barack Obama, Brexit, Donald Trump, EU, Europe, Ireland, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Left Unity Party, Little Englander, NHS, Nigel Farage, RISE, Scotland, Tories, UK, UKIP, USA, Wales

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Nov 08 2016

REPORT OF THE LEFT UNITY PARTY CONFERENCE IN LIVERPOOL ON 29.10.16

Category: Against Unionism,England,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,Wales — RCN @ 4:54 pm

Steve Freeman of the Left Unity Party and RISE goes a report of the LUP Conference held in Liverpool on 29th October.

ANTI-UNIONISM

The Tories, UKIP, the Democratic Unionists, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party are all British Unionist parties. Last weekend Left Unity (LU) conference took a significant step forward. It became an Anti-Unionist party and thus drew a sharp distinction with Corbyn’s Labour Party. LU took the first steps to realigning the party with the democratic movement in Scotland, not least in demanding the abolition of the 1707 Act of Union.
Continue reading “REPORT OF THE LEFT UNITY PARTY CONFERENCE IN LIVERPOOL ON 29.10.16”

Tags: 'Spirit of 45', Anglo-British nationalism, Anti-unionism, Author: Steve Freeman, Brexit, CPGB, Dexit - Democratic Exit, England, EU, European Left Party, Ireland, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party, Left Unity Party, Scotland, Socialist Resistance, Wales, Workers Power

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