James Slaven of the James Connolly Society provides us with the following report of its very successful conference held on Saturday October 12th in Edinburgh. For the second time this year, the Radical Independence Campaign provided a speaker for a JCS organised event. The speaker on this occasion was Liam O’Hare of Edinburgh RIC. On…
2nd Radical Independence Conference – ‘After The UK: The Future Of 4 Nations’
The RCN received the unanimous backing of the Edinburgh branch of RIC to ask the RIC National Steering Committee to organise a session at the second national RIC conference on November 23rd in Glasgow, entitled ‘The break-up of the UK – the case for ‘internationalism from below’’. This was then unanimously agreed by the Steering Committee, subject to…
The Case For The Republican Socialist Platform In The Left Unity Party In England
There has been considerable interest shown in the proposed Left Unity Party in England and Wales, which it is intended to launch on November 30th. We have already posted one proposed platform – the Socialist Platform (see The Socialist Platform). In an interesting development, some members of the Republican Socialist Alliance in England are Making the Case…
Radisson Blu Or Post-Radisson Red?
This blog has already commented on the earlier organising behind the Radical Independence Conference. It has also provided a fraternal critique of Britain Must Break, written by James Foley for the International Socialist Group (ISG), the organisation which initiated the RIC. Many others have commented on the conference itself (see end of articles below for…
A Debate On The Way Forward For The Radical Independence Conference
On 24th November over 800 people attended the Radical Independence Conference in Glasgow. Gregor Gall has written an article looking at this major event for the Word Power Bookshop Platform, entitled Scottish Independence & Letting a Thousand Flowers Bloom. It can be found at:- http://www.word-power.co.uk/viewPlatform.php?id=607
Scottish Self-Determination And The ‘Actually Existing’ Labour Movement
A response to the Red Paper Collective’s Power for Scotland’s People – A labour movement view The ‘Independent Scotland Debate’ was organised by the Edinburgh Peoples Festival on September 9th. 86 people attended this well-conducted event in the Out of the Blue Centre in Leith. The speaker supporting independence was Kevin Williamson of bella caledonia,…
‘Britain Must Break’ To Defend ‘Real Labour’ or ‘The Break-Up Of The UK’ To Advance Republican Socialism?
Allan Armstrong (RCN) welcomes the new pamphlet Britain Must Break by the International Socialist Group (Scotland) and offers some fraternal criticism. Introduction The Scottish government’s 2014 ‘independence’ referendum has produced a flurry of analysis and activity amongst the Left in Scotland. This has led several Socialist organisations to come together to promote the Radical Independence Conference[1]The…
The ‘Independence-Lite’ Referendum And A Tale Of Two Campaigns
The SNP‘s ‘Yes, Please’ And The Left Nationalists’ ‘Yes, But…’ Tale No. 1 – the launch of the SNP’s Yes campaign Alex Salmond launched the ‘Yes’ campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum at Cineworld in Edinburgh’s Fountainbridge on the morning of Friday, May 25th. Apart from the delayed start, this media orientated event, attended…
Socialist Republicanism And The Diamond Jubilee
The RCN is posting four pieces as a contribution to the debate on a socialist republican the Diamond Jubilee. Socialist Republicans and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Republicanism Socialism and Democracy The Crown Rules Britannia The Queen: Floating in the Stink 1. Socialist Republicans and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee “Maud Gonne joined with James Connolly in…
The Scottish Independence Referendum Debate, Part 3
This section of our continuing debate on the Scottish Independence Referendum addresses the British Left. The commune asked Allan Armstrong and Bob Goupillot to submit an article on the issue. This article, The Scottish Independence Referendum, appeared in the April, 2012 issue of the commune. Barry Biddulph replied to this in the June issue with…