Allan Armstrong follows up his article, The Continued Rise of Right National Populism and Reactionary Unionism in the Run-up to the December 12th General Election (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2019/12/09/the-continued-rise-of-right-populism-and-reactionary-unionism/). He examines the impact of the general election results across the constituent parts of the UK and the prospects for the immediate future. THE IMPACT OF THE DECEMBER 12th GENERAL ELECTION…
PROTESTS AND POLITICAL RHETORIC PUNCTURES COMPLACENCY OVER RACISM IN IRELAND
E&L is reposting this article first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland). This shows that the widespread belief in the absence of significant racism in Ireland is misplaced. Even in Ireland, which was long the subject of UK state and British racism, the post-2008 crisis and current rise of the Right globally, has led to a…
SECTARIAN INTIMIDATION IN NORTH BELFAST
North Belfast has been a long standing area of sectarian intimidation. Until December 12th it was represented by the DUP’s Nigel Dodds who joined up with the hard core Loyalists at the ‘Stop the {Brexit} Betrayal Act – Defend the Union’ meeting in Belfast’s Ulster Hall on December 6th. Like Emma Little-Pengelly, his fellow Loyalist…
FROM PRE-BRIT TO EX-BRIT – The Forging and the Break-up of the UK and Britishness
Allan Armstrong’s new book From Pre-Brit to Ex-Brit – The Forging and the Break-up of the UK and Britishness is now available online at:- https://allanarmstrong831930095.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/from-pre-brit-to-ex-brit-.pdf Originally posted on 10.1.19, it has been updated. This is an expansion of an article written in 2015 and updated in 2016. (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2016/03/02/britishness-the-uk-state-unionism-scotland-and-the-national-outsider/) ___________ Below is the Introduction with an…
THE RISE OF NATIONAL POPULISM AND REACTIONARY UNIONISM IN THE RUN UP TO THE DECEMBER 12th GENERAL ELECTION
In the lead-up to the December 12th general election Allan Armstrong updates his analysis of the drift to the Right populist and reactionary unionist politics in the UK and what this possibly means for the future of the Union. This is followed by an article by statement from the Radical Independence Campaign in Scotland on…
BREXIT MARK 2 – BORIS DISPELS THE FOG TO REVEAL CLASS WAR – an Irish perspective
Many both on the Left and amongst the Irish and Scottish nationalists have welcomed the break between the Tories and the DUP, following Boris Johnson’s perceived cave in before the EU, over the border. They believe that the road to Irish reunification is now open. This article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) argues from a much…
THE FIGHT FOR SCOTLAND’S REPUBLIC
Below is the leaflet handed out by the Campaign for a European Republican Socialist Party at the Radical Independence Conference, attended by 500 in Glasgow, on Saturday, October 26th. THE FIGHT FOR SCOTLAND’S REPUBLIC Our Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) must not think that IndyRef2 will be a repeat of the 2014 referendum, this time…
THE CONTRADICTIONS UNDERLYING BREXIT AND SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
Allan Armstrong sent this article to Conter, on September 13th, hoping to open up one of the debates on the Left in relation to Scottish independence, before and during the Radical Independence Campaign conference in Glasgow on October 26th. There has been no acknowledgement of this article by the Conter editor, despite Allan being a…
SCOTLAND’S SECRET SHAME
The issue of ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland has raised its head again following loyalists attacks on republican marches in Govan on August 30th and Glasgow city centre on 7th September. Whilst the attacks made by the loyalists were on legal marches, politicians and the media have predictably fallen back on the ‘sectarian’ two tribes approach. This…
A NATION ONCE AGAIN?
There has been a lot of talk recently about the inevitability of a united Ireland after a ‘No Deal’ Brexit. This article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) provides a more cautionary note. A NATION ONCE AGAIN? Dream and reality in the United Ireland discourse What do you learn when Irish nationalist sources start to…