The following article by Jonathon Shafi, of the Conter editorial board, was first posted on the Substack blog. It outlines the SNP leaders’ accommodation to landowners in Scotland, and the Scottish Green leaders’ accommodation to the SNP, when it comes to renewable energy. IS THIS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE? The latest in the great Scottish sell…
Gordon Brown’s new report and the Supreme Court ruling
Mike Small of bella caledonia has written this response to Gordon Brown’s report ‘A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy’. He argues that this report collapses under the weight of its own incoherence. Instead of viewing this as a set of solutions for Scotland, it should be seen as Labour’s attempt to create…
Holyrood dismantles UN special rapporteur’s arguments against gender recognition reform
The following article by Alex/Rose Cocker was first posted by The Canary. It shows the misrepresentation of the status of the UN special rapporteur, who has been used by those who opposed gender recognition reform, and then deals with the rapporteur’s arguments. HOLYROOD DISMANTLES UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR’S ARGUMENTS AGAINST GENDER RECOGNITION REFORM On 29 November,…
Elaine Murray – a remarkable woman
Elaine Murray was a remarkable woman. Being an active trade unionist and political campaigners were just two aspects of her full and rounded life. Many people – family, partners, friends, sisters, brothers and and comrades – attended her commemoration meeting. This was held on Thursday, December 1st in the Kings Manor Hotel in Edinburgh. This commemoration…
Distorted reporting of the 2021 census echoes a racist conspiracy theory
The following article written by Benali Hamdache was first posted by openDemocracy. It highlights the Right media’s calculated distortion of the 2021 UK census data, and hoe liberal media like The Guardian has been complicit in this. DISTORTED REPORTING OF THE 2021 CENSUS ECHOES A RACIST CONSPIRACY THEORY Our lives are filled with bad…
Mary Brooksbank -125th anniversary of her birth
Hi all, Please join us in Dundee next Saturday 10th December at 1pm for our annual Mary Brooksbank commemoration, this year marking the 125th anniversary of her birth. Mary Brooksbank is Dundee’s best-known communist and trade unionist. Growing up working in the jute mills like many working class women and girls of her day, she wrote…
Turkey is bombing Kobanê
The following article, written by Sarah Glynn, first posted by bella caledonia, continues her reporting of Turkish state brutality towards the Kurds. The Kurds’ plight is ignored by all the main imperial contenders, as they hypocritically and opportunistically opt to back those nations and peoples oppressed by their adversaries. At the same time they try…
Pogroms in Palestine, settler violence and terror is the precursor to deportation and transfer
The following article by Tony Greenstein describes the stepped up violence directed against Palestinians following the election of Netanyahu and his Far Right allies POGROMS IN PALESTINE, SETTLER VIOLENCE AND TERROR IS THE PRECURSOR TO DEPORTATION AND TRANSFER In this short 2 minute video from Breaking the Silence Yehuda Shaul describes the routine violence and intimidation…
The World Cup should make us rethink our understanding of human rights
The following article by Neil Vallelly first appeared in Jacobin. It the light of the controversy surrounding the World Cup being held in Qatar, it invites us to think more widely about the concept of human rights. THE WORLD CUP SHOULD MAKE US RETHINK OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN RIGHTS Media coverage of the World Cup…
Are circumstances now aligned for possible war in the Middle East?
We are posting the following article by Paul Rogers which was posted by openDemocracy. It examines the possibility of a new war breaking out in the Middle East, adding further to the inter-imperial tensions over Ukraine and Taiwan. ARE CIRCUMSTANCES NOW ALIGNED FOR POSSIBLE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST? With instability in Iran, a right-wing…