At a time when there is not much to be cheerful about, the Bristol jury’s decision to find the four accused of toppling the statue of Bristol slaver, Edward Colston, not guilty, has been widely celebrated. This article by Tom Anderson was first posted on The Canary blog. NOT GUILTY: BRISTOL JURY FINDS THAT…
Summit of democracy? – Susan Pashkoff takes a critical look at rising authoritarianism in Britain and the US
There have been some on the Left who have viewed the election of Joe Biden as a return to Neo-liberalism, after a temporary Right Populist hiatus under Donald Trump. However, such has been the post-2008 crisis of Neo-liberalism that its one-time advocates have had to abandon any real commitment to the limited of extension of democracy…
British Brexit strategy hits the buffers – more chaos ahead
We are posting this article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) on the latest developments in the negotiations between the UK government and the EU following Lord Frost’s departure from the government and as chief Brexit negotiator. BRITISH BREXIT STRATEGY HITS THE BUFFERS – MORE CHAOS AHEAD Disagreement with covid strategy is not the reason for…
Open letter from Tony Greenstein to the Guardian after its coverage of Desmond Tutu’s death
We are posting the following open letter to the Guardian from Tony Greenstein. It is addressed to Kath Viner, and The Guardian‘s Zionist gatekeeper, Jonathon Freedland, following the paper’s dedication to Archbishop Desmond Tutu following his death on 26.12.21. OPEN LETTER FROM TONY GREENSTEIN AFTER ITS COVERAGE OF DESMOND TUTU’S DEATH Do You…
Global Britain, Levelling up, Strengthening the Union
The following article by Allan Armstrong (RSP) was first posted by bella caledonia. It looks at the political significance of the appointment of Sir Tony Radakin to Chief of Defence Staff, using his speech to the Royal United Services Institute. This version also included a link to that speech and other references. GLOBAL BRITAIN, LEVELLING…
“Terrible step”: press freedom in danger as UK court clears the way for Julian Assange extradition
We are posting this interview in the aftermath of the UK court decision to extradite Julian Assange. Amy Goodman of Democacy Now speaks to Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders; Gabriel Shipton, Julian Assange’s brother and a filmmaker: and Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “TERRIBLE STEP”: PRESS FREEDOM IN DANGER…
Flag Commission stalemate
This article was originally posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland), It highlights the inability of the ‘liberal’ institutions set up after the Good Friday Agreement to effectively challenge continued sectarianism built into the Stormont set-up. FLAG COMMISSION STALEMATE The Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) was originally set up in 2016 The long-delayed report…
Imperialism is responsible for Omicron
The following article. written by Sam Carliner of Left Voice (USA), highlights the role of imperialism in the mergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 IMPERIALISM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR OMICRON With capitalism acting as an incubator for pandemics, and vaccine nationalism preventing an effective global response, it is no surprise that the Omicron variant…
Tom Devine, the Highland Clearances, black chattel slavery and statues
EL&SD is posting two articles about Scotland’s leading historian, Sir Tom Devine. In the first, Barry Biddulph takes issue with Devine’s earlier opposition to the removal for the statue of the Duke of Sutherland on Ben Bhraggie near Golspie. He and his wife, the Countess of Sutherland, were responsible for some of the worst…
Ukraine, Marxism and the National Question
In September Marko Bojcun’s book, The Workers Movement and the National Question in Ukraine, 1897-1918, was published. The Republican Socialist Platform co-hosted a Zoom meeting on 22nd September, at which Marko and others spoke and the issues raised by the book were discussed. Chis Ford of the Ukraine Solidarity campaign wrote the following introduction…