Emancipation & Liberation

Jan 07 2021

WHITHER REMAIN OR WILL REMAIN WITHER?

Category: Against Unionism,England,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,The EU,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 3:17 pm

The ruling class has fully fallen in behind Johnson’s Brexit deal. After the Leave vote, May, assisted by Corbyn, had already delivered them a new gastarbeiter scheme with cheap easily disposable migrant labour. Now after the December 29th vote to accept Johnson’s hard Brexit deal, Daniel Hannan,* former Tory MEP and president of the Initiative for Free Trade, has flagged up the scrapping of EU worker and consumer protection rules. Sir Keir Starmer, quick to see the lack of any ruling class support for EU, has fallen in line, not even being prepared to vote against Johnson’s deal on December 29th. This article by Phil Vellender looks to the shrinking prospects for those on the Left in England who wanted to Remain in the EU. It highlights their political limitations, particularly those of Another Europe Is Possible, flowing from their acceptance of the UK state based on the profoundly anti-democratic sovereignty of the Union and the Crown in Westminster,

WHITHER REMAIN OR WILL REMAIN WITHER?

Some Remain voters are setting up ‘Rejoin EU ASAP’ groups. This is an entirely understandable reaction to a traumatic hard Brexit that no one voted for, and certainly many would not vote for again, given all the evidence we now have of the shenanigans and empty promises involved in the Cummings-Elliot Leave EU campaign. But before we expend a lot of energy on a project with, let’s face it, scant chance of success as things stand now, it might be timely to address some domestic constitutional matters those ‘yearning to return’ may have overlooked when they unreservedly and single-mindedly backed the People’s Vote campaign, and its demand for a ‘Second Referendum’. Continue reading “WHITHER REMAIN OR WILL REMAIN WITHER?”

Tags: 'Best for Britain', 'second referendum', 1707 Union, A Peoples Vote, Another Europe Is Possible, Author: Phil Vellender, Better Together, English nationalism, EU, Glorious Revolution 1688, IndyRef1, Irish reunification, Jeremy Corbyn, Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, Remain, Scotland, Tom Watson, Welsh independence

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Dec 28 2020

WHAT IS THE CROWN AND WHAT IS REPUBLICANISM?

Category: Against Unionism,England,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,For Self-Determination: Struggles against Alienation,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Political Campaigns,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 6:40 pm

Johnnie Gallacher of the Republican Socialist Platform (https://republicansocialists.scot) has written an article updating some of the postings made earlier in our blog. We are posting this article along with a a list of other articles on the E&L blog addressing the issue of republicanism.

1. WHAT IS THE CROWN AND WHAT IS REPUBLICANISM?

This article is a synthesis and summary of several articles originally published in Emancipation & Liberation:

http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2012/06/16/republican-socialists-and-the-diamond-jubilee/

What is the Crown?

If you were to ask a few randomly selected person to define the Crown, they would no doubt mention the Queen and royal family, encouraged in this regard by the misleadingly named popular Netflix biopic. Similarly, if you were to ask for definitions of Republicanism, you would no doubt hear about toothless debates about whether the Queen costs too much money, or whether or not she attracts tourists and thereby generates national income. . Continue reading “WHAT IS THE CROWN AND WHAT IS REPUBLICANISM?”

Tags: 'A Very British Coup', 'The Queen', Australian Governor General, Author: Johnnie Gallacher, British High Court, Cardiff Bay, Chagos Islands, Crown Powers, Emancipation & Liberation, Faslane, Gough Whitlam, Harold Wilson, Holyrood, Prime Minister, Prince Charles, Republican Socialist Platform, Republicanism, Scottish self-determination, SNP, Stormont, The Crown, The monarchy, Trident, United Nation’s International Court of Justice, Westminster

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Dec 17 2020

POPULAR CULTURE, BREXIT AND ONE NATION TORYISM

Category: Against Unionism,England,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,How they are organised,Ireland,Political Campaigns,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 10:42 am

The following article by Jim Aitken, first appeared on the Culture Matters blog.

POPULAR CULTURE, BREXIT AND ONE NATION TORYISM

There was a palpable sense of euphoria on the BBC during the morning after the night before of the General Election of December 12, 2019. It had a feeling of glee about it; a childish excitement that the un-English dragon of socialism – as represented by Jeremy Corbyn – had well and truly been defeated by the forces of St. George of England. These forces, amazingly, had included many of those who had been reduced to the level of serfdom by the political party they were now supporting. Dragon Jeremy had promised these serfs their rightful inheritance and instead they chose Boris, the court jester. England’s green and pleasant lands could remain forever precariously green – a bit like the serfs themselves.

In a sense the BBC was entitled to this gleefulness because it had helped to orchestrate a campaign that told the serfs of England’s former industrial areas that the court jester needed their seats to ‘Get Brexit Done’. Many duly obliged because they too wanted to ‘Get Brexit Done’. No-one asked them why they wanted it done and why Europe was so noxious to them. No-one asked them if they thought it was the EU that was responsible for the de-industrialisation of their areas; if the EU was responsible for the austerity they lived under; for the food banks they go to for food or for the zero hours and chronic low pay they receive. No-one asked them if all these adversities were made in the UK or in the EU. For the court jester, however, Europe was foreign and too left-wing with too many regulations for a free-marketeer like him. England did not need to be a vassal state any longer. She could be free from all the regulations that guaranteed the serfs minimal rights, and be great again. Continue reading “POPULAR CULTURE, BREXIT AND ONE NATION TORYISM”

Tags: ' Her Majesty Mrs Brown', 'A Man for all Seasons', 'Anne of the Thousand Days', 'Antiques Roadshow', 'Bring up the Bodies', 'Children in Need', 'Churchil', 'Colditz', 'Comic Relief', 'Dad's Army', 'Darkest Hour', 'Downton Abbey/, 'Eastenders', 'Elizabeth', 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age', 'Elizabethans', 'English Constitution', 'Flog It', 'Get Brexit Done', 'God save the Queen', 'Harry Potter', 'Henry V', 'Her Majesty's Opposition', 'Into the Storm', 'Land of Hope and Glory', 'Sybil or the Two Nations', 'The Apprentice: You’re fired!, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England ', 'The Dam Busters', 'The Diamond Queen: Elizabeth 2nd and her People', 'The Favourite', 'The Gathering Storm', 'The Great Escape', 'The King's Speech', 'The Madness of George III', 'The Mirror and the Light', 'The Other Boleyn Girl', 'The Queen', 'The Repair Shop', 'The Six Wives of Henry V111', 'Victoria and Abdul', 'Victoria', 'Wolf Hall', 'Young Victoria', 'Young Winston', 1922 Committee, Abu Ghraib, Andrew Marr, Antonio Gramsci, Author: Jim Aitken, BBC, Benjamin Disraeli, Black Lives Matter, Boris Johnson, Brexit, British Empire, Captain Tom Moore, CBE, Church of England, Conservative Party, Covid crisis, December 12th 2019 general election, Dundee, Edmund Burke, Elizabeth 1, England, EU, European Research Group, Frederick Engels, hegemony, Henry VIII, Hilary Mantel, Internal Market Bill, Jeremy Cortbyn, Karl Marx, Keir Hardie, Keith Michel, Labour, Margaret Thatcher, Mark Drakeford, MBE, Michael Gove, NHS, Nicola Sturgeon, Northern Ireland, OBE, Paul Martin, Queen Mother, Robert Burns, Rule Britannia, Scotland, St. George, The Crown, The House of Commons, the poppy, the Proms, The Queen Victoria, Thomas Cromwell, Tom Paime, Vera Lynn, Wales, Walter Bagehot, Winston Churchill

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Nov 07 2020

THE BRITISH LEFT AND THE UK STATE

The British Left and the UK State, written by Allan Armstrong can be found at:-

https://allanarmstrong831930095.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/the-british-left-the-uk-state-.pdf

Below is an outline of the Contents and the concluding chapter addressing the need for a socialist republican ‘internationalism from below’ strategy to address the current challenges the Left faces

_____________

THE BRITISH LEFT AND THE UK STATE

From the British Left’s ‘national exceptionalism’ during the ‘IndyRef1’campaign to acting as Left outriders for the UK state during the Brexit campaign

Contents

1. Introduction – the relationship between the UK state and the British Left
2. The challenge to British Left unionism represented by IndyRef1
3. From IndyRef1 in 2014 to the Euro-referendum in 2016 – the British Left begins to dig a hole for itself.
4. The Left Brexiteers, the 2015 Westminster general election, the 2016 Euro-referendum and on to the 2017 Westminster general election – giving succour to the Right Populist and Hard Right Brexit offensive
5. The CPB, SP(E&W) and SWP provide cover for McCluskey’s anti-democratic, ‘British jobs for British workers’, racist and Right accommodating Brexit
6. Two forces for possible future Socialist advances –Ian Allinson’s Grassroots Left election campaign for the UNITE general secretary and the appearance of Left Remain forces in the new Labour intake.
7. The growing ascendancy of the Hard Right and the final demise of Left Brexit in the December 12th general election
8. The Left Brexiteers export their Brexit illusions to Ireland
9. Conclusion – challenge the UK and partitioned Irish states, their ‘internationalism from above’ allies and the disunited Left’s ‘national ‘exceptionalism’ with a socialist republican ‘internationalism from below’ strategy

Continue reading “THE BRITISH LEFT AND THE UK STATE”

Tags: 'Believe in Scotland', 'Devo-Max', 'free ports', 'Me First', 'national exceptionalism', 1916 societies, 2008 Crash, Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, Action for Independence, Alex Salmond, Andrew Burnham, Andrew Wilson, Author: Allan Armstrong, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexit Party, British Left, Business for Scotland, Cardiff Bay Assembly, constitutional nationalists, Covid-19, Crown Powers, Dave Thompson, Devolution-all-round, dissident Republicans, Donald Trump, Douglas Ross MSP, Dundee City Council, DUP, England, EU bureaucracy, Federalism, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Fresh Start, Good Friday Agreement, Gordon Brown, Gough Whitlam, Hard Right, Holyrood parliament, identity politics, IndyLite, IndyRef1, indyref2, Internal Market Bill, Internationalism From Below, Ireland, Ireland's Partition, Irish Dail, Irish reunification, Joanna Cherry, Joe Biden, Kevin McKenna, Leo Varadkar, liberal unionists, loyalists, Lyra McKee, NIC-ICTU, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Alliance Party, Northern Ireland Executive, People before Profit, Plaid Cymru, Priti Patel, Right populists, Saltire Club, Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party, SDLP, Sinn Fein, SNP, Social Partnership, Stormont, Stormont Assembly, STUC, Sustainable Growth Commission, Tommy Sheridan, Tory Immigration Bill 2019, Tory Party, UK Reform Party, UKIP, Wales, Westminster, Wings Over Scotland, WTUC

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Oct 10 2020

FROM GREY TO RED GRANITE – Viewing the Left, the Scottish Question and the Nature of the UK State through the Lens of Neil Davidson’s Writings and Political Work

Below are the Contents and Introduction to Allan Armstrong’s article, From Grey Granite to Red Granite – Viewing the Left, the Scottish Question and the Nature of the UK state through the Lens of Neil Davidson’s Writings and Political Work.

The full article can be read at:-

https://allanarmstrong831930095.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/from-grey-to-red-granite-1.pdf

Neil Davidson speaks to a socialist conference in Athens

Allan Armstrong speaks to a James Connolly walking tour in Edinburgh

FROM GREY TO RED GRANITE

Viewing the Left, the Scottish Question and the Nature of the UK state through the Lens of Neil Davidson’s Writings and Political Work

Allan Armstrong

________

Contents

Continue reading “FROM GREY TO RED GRANITE – Viewing the Left, the Scottish Question and the Nature of the UK State through the Lens of Neil Davidson’s Writings and Political Work”

Tags: 'Think Tankism', 1692-1740, Aberdeen University, Author: Allan Armstrong, Combined and Uneven Development, Emancipation & Liberation, England, EU - In or Out?, Grey Granite, International Socialism Scotland, Ireland, Isaac Deutscher Memorial Prize, James Connolly, movementism, Neil Davidson, Radical Independence Campaign, Red Granite, Republican Communist Network, Republican Workers Tendency, Revolutionary Democratic Group, RS21, Scotland, Solidarity, SSP, SWP, Ten Years After – the Revolutionary Left in Scotland, The Discovery of the Scottish Revolution, The Scottish Republic – What is Real Democracy?, University of Glasgow’s Socialist Theory and Movements Research Network, Wales

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Sep 03 2020

LABOUR’S HISTORIC DEFEAT IN SCOTLAND

Category: Against Unionism,England,How they are organised,Ireland,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 4:46 pm

We are posting this article by Steve Freeman first posted on the Republican Socialist Alliance outlining, mainly for the benefit of republican socialists in England, the Scottish dimension of ‘Labour’s historic defeat’.

LABOUR’S HISTORIC DEFEAT IN SCOTLAND

Stunned?
Resting?
Pining for the ‘Spirit of 45’?

You may remember the famous Monty Python sketch about a parrot returned by a dissatisfied customer, John Cleese, to the pet-shop run by Michael Palin. As Cleese enters the shop, Palin says, “We are closing for lunch”. Cleese says “Never mind that, my lad, I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.” Palin replies “oh yes, the, ur, the Norwegian Blue. What, uh, what is wrong with it”. “I tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad,” says Cleese, “E’s dead, that’s what is wrong with it”.“No, no e’s uh…. he’s resting” claims Palin. Continue reading “LABOUR’S HISTORIC DEFEAT IN SCOTLAND”

Tags: 1688 Glorious Revolution, 1707 Act Of Union, 1801 Act of Union, 1913 Scottish Home Rule Bill, 2014 IndyRef1, 2016 EU referendum, Absolutist France, Alec Douglas-Home, Author: Steve Freeman, Battle of Britain, Bonar Law, Brexit, British Empire, British Labour Party, Conervatives v. Liberals, Conservative & Unionist Party, Conservatives v. Labour, Crown-in-Parliament, David Cameron, Degenerated Social Monarchy, Elector of Hanover, England, European Union, HM Treasury, Jacobite Risings, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Together Report, Labour's historic defeat, Margaret Thatcher, neo-liberalism, Nicola Sturgeon, North Sea Oil, Northern Ireland, NUM, Protestantism, Ridley Plan, Ruth Davidson, Scottish Labour Party, slave trade, SNP, social monarchy, Tony Blair, Tories v. Whigs, Unionists and Nationalists, United Kingdom, Wales

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Aug 15 2020

THE CASE FOR A REPUBLICAN INTERNATIONALIST COALITION FOR SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE

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,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 10:16 pm

THE CASE FOR A REPUBLICAN INTERNATIONALIST COALITION FOR SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE

Banner made when Edinburgh RIC hosted the the national RIC contingent on the ‘All Under One Banner’ demonstration on 6.10.18

a. The Radical Independence Campaign

An examination of the wording of the initials and principles of the Radical Independence Campaign is instructive.

R = Radical, I = Independence, C = Campaign

Each one of these terms is ambiguous. Continue reading “THE CASE FOR A REPUBLICAN INTERNATIONALIST COALITION FOR SCOTLAND’S INDEPENDENCE”

Tags: 'party' sects, 'Yes' campaign, 1999 Battle of Seattle, 2014 IndyRef1, 2016 EU referendum, 214 Scottish independence referendum, Advisory Report on Economic Recovery, Alex Salmond, All Under One Banner, Alliance Party, Anarchists, Andrew Wilson, Andy Wightman, Another Europe Is Possible, Another Scotland Is Possible, Another World Is Possible, Author: Allan Armstrong, Benny Higgins, Bertie Armstrong, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brexit Party, Catalunya, Coalition of Resistance, conservative unionism, constitutional nationalism, Covid-19, Crown Powers, December 12th Westminster general election, Devolution-all-round, Donald Trump, DUP, Euskadi, February 8th Irish Dial general election, Gaelic language, Globalise Resistance, Greece, Independece for Scotland Party, Indy-Lite, indyref2, International Socialist Group (Scotland), Internationalism From Below, Jeremy Corbyn, Joanna Cherry, Kurds, liberal unionism, movementism, NATO, neo-liberalism, Nicols Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Plaid Cymru, Radical Independence Campaign, reactionary unionism, republican internationalist coalition, Republicanism, Rev. Stuart Campbell, Right populism, Ruth Davidson, Scottiah government, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour Party, SDLP, Sinn Fein, SNP, Socialist Party, sovereignty of Crown in Westminster, sovereignty of the people, Sustainable Growth Commission, SWP, The Troika, Tommy Sheridan, Tories, transgender rights, Trident, UKIP, Unite Against Fascism, Welsh Labour Party, Wings Over Scotland

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Jul 12 2020

THE UK STATE, RIGHT POPULISM AND REACTIONARY UNIONISM IN 2020 – rUK IT or fUK IT?

Allan Armstrong has produced his third online pamphlet, following The Continuing Shift from Neo-Liberalism to Right Populism. This follows the last update which looked at the impact of Right Populism and reactionary unionism on the politics of the these islands after the December 12^th UK and February 8^th Irish general elections. The contents of the latest pamphlet (https://allanarmstrong831930095.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/dec12th-covid-19-and-blm-scotland2-3.pdf) are shown below. This is followed by two sections from the pamphlet specifically relating to the recent and current situation in Scotland, which form the basis for Allan’s talk on the Campaign for a European Republican Socialist Republican Party Zoom meeting.

THE UK STATE, RIGHT POPULISM AND

REACTIONARY UNIONISM IN 2020

rUK it or fUK it?

A republican communist analysis in the aftermath of December 12^th general election, Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter

Allan Armstrong. 6.7.20

Contents

A. FROM THE DECEMBER 12^TH WESTMINSTER GENERAL ELECTION THROUGH THE COVID-19 CRISIS

Continue reading “THE UK STATE, RIGHT POPULISM AND REACTIONARY UNIONISM IN 2020 – rUK IT or fUK IT?”

Tags: Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: George Kerevan, Conter, Intfrobel Publishing, reactionary unionism, Right populism, RIGHT POPULISM AND REACTIONARY UNIONISM IN 2020 rUK it or fUK it?, The Continuing Shift from Neo-Liberalism to Right Populism, THE UK STATE

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Jul 02 2020

THE CRISIS OF THE LABOUR PARTY

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,How they are organised,Ireland,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 11:37 am

Steve Freeman takes a different view if the crisis in the British Labour Party from the views taken by the British Left. Steve relates the crisis in the Labour Party to the ongoing collapse of the post-1945 UK’s social monarchist welfare state.

THE CRISIS IN THE LABOUR PARTY

I want to begin with a nursery rhyme which sums up the character of the present political stage we are living through.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again

This is in original a civil war story about the royalist army having a very big cannon – called Humpty Dumpty – sitting on a wall before being knocked out by the parliamentary forces, such that all the kings horses etc. couldn’t fix it.

.I am going to discuss the Report of Labour Together – the 2019 Election Review’(RLT). We are discussing the situation before Covid 19 or Black Lives Matter. These are the immediate issues that are at the front of our minds today. Why go back over the ‘ancient’ history of a Labour defeat best forgotten? The answer is we can learn a considerable amount about the state of peoples’ views or political consciousness, as expressed through England’s two-party system, and revealed in their voting behaviour in December 2019. This ‘moment’ was a mass event with millions of participants and therefore worthy of critical analysis. Continue reading “THE CRISIS OF THE LABOUR PARTY”

Tags: 'Get Brexit Done', 'I Daniel Blake', 'Revolution Betrayed', 'Spirit of 45', 'Take Back Control', 'The Navigators', 1688-1707 Glorious Revolution, 1690 Battle of the Boyne, 1945 Social Contract, 1953 Coronation, 1984-5 Great Miners' Strike, 2014 IndyRef1, 2016 EU referendum, 2019 Labour Manifesto, Author: Steve Freeman, baby boomers, Barras, BBC, Boris Johnson, Brexit, Brissot, British Labour Party, Dominic Cummings, England, EU, Gladstone's Liberal Party, Good Friday Agreement, Iraq War, Jeremy Corbyn, Ken Loach, Labour's historic defeat, Leon Trotsky, Margaret Thatcher, Mirabeau, Napoleon, New Labour, Northern Ireland, Orangemen, Report of Labour Together – the 2019 Election Review, Robespierre, Scotland, social monarchy, Sorry We Missed You, suspension of Stormont 2017-20, The Transitional Programme for Socialist Revolution, Tony Blair, United Kingdom, Wales, welfare state, Whig Party, white Anglo-Saxon identity, Windrush

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Mar 14 2020

THE LABOUR LEFT ALLIANCE AND ROYAL SOCIALISM

Category: Against Unionism,England,How they are organised,Ireland,Scotland,The Socialist Republican Break-up of the UK,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 5:49 pm

This letter by Steve Freeman is a reponse to a report by Stan Keable in Weekly Worker about the post-December 12th general election conference of section of the Labour Left, who have become disillusioned with Momentum, John Lansman’s Corbyn fan club. Yet, as this letter shows the Labour Left Alliance retains the weaknesses of Corbyn, his allies and Momentum when it comes to the existing UK state.

THE LABOUR LEFT ALLIANCE AND ROYAL SOCIALISM

As reported by Stan Keable in ‘A vision of royal socialism’ (Weekly Worker, February 27), the Labour Left Alliance conference was a significant event in the evolution of the Labour Left, which was revitalised by the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015. Stan reports that 130 delegates at the conference represented about 36 local and national Labour Left groups. Continue reading “THE LABOUR LEFT ALLIANCE AND ROYAL SOCIALISM”

Tags: 'royal socialism', 'soclal monarchism', 2016 EU referendum, British Labour Party, British Left Unionism, Chris Williamson, Frederick Engels, Ireland, James Connolly, Jeremy Corbyn, John Lansman, John MacLean, Karl Marx, Labour Left Alliance, Lenin, London LLA, Momentum, Scotland, Tony Blair, Wales

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