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…

The Rittenhouse verdict is green light for right wing vigilantism

The following article by James Dennis Hoff, written for Left Voice (USA,) highlights the real nature of the Us state as a white imperial republic.  The Wisconsin court’s support for Kyle Rittenhouse’s white fascist vigilantism  did not occur in the South, with its Jim Crow/Ku Klux Klan legacy, or under the racist authoritarian populist ,…

Two views of COP-26

We are posting the following two artciles on Cop26. The most recent, Six sides of COP26, is from Christopher Silver, writing for bella caledonia. This provides an overview of  Cop26 at the end of the conference. The second, Financing the climate, is from the Michael Roberts blog. It examines the claims made by corporations and capitalist…

British politics is an oligarchs’ cocktail party – Tory ministers are the waiters

The following article on sleaze and corruption in British politics by Adam Ramsay was first posted by OpenDemocracy. BRITISH POLITICS IS AN OLIGARCHS’ COCKTAIL PARTY – TORY MINISTERS RE THE WAITERS The recent onslaught of government sleaze shows once again why the UK has been called ‘the most corrupt country in the world’. With the…

Police intimidation at Cop26

We are posting two pieces concerning the police intimidation and kettling of the Young Communist League contingent on the Cop26 demonstration in Glasgow on November 6th.  The first is by Mike Small of bella caledonia; the second is a statement from the YCL Central Committee.    1. POLICE INTIMIDATION AT COP-26 Saturday saw one of…

Election night USA 2021: the Right strikes back

Many, including some on the Left, have claimed that the election of Joe Biden marked the defeat of Trump’s Right populism and the return of neo-liberal hegemony.  However, in the face of the multi-facetted crises facing global capitalism today, the Right populists’ desire to remould the world on the basis of the ditching of old-style…

The need to challenge the Populist Right’s “culture war” warriors

The Populist Right is trying to roll back the gains made the Black Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Gay Movement and is trying to prevent Gender Self Determination being legalised.  Central to their strategy are attempts  to a play one group of oppressed against another. This has led to the emergence of what…

Slow motion civil war in the USA

Daniel Lazare updates his recent article (Approaching train wreck) on the revival of Trump’s fortunes in Joe Bidens’ USA. Right populism is making a return mightily helped by the anti-democratic US constitution. This was first posted by Weekly Worker. SLOW MOTION CIVIL WAR As every car-owner knows, mechanical problems do not fix themselves. Until you…

Approaching train wreck

The following article by David Lazare posted by Weekly Worker argues that far from being defeated, Trump’s Right Populists are making new ground, as Joe Biden flounders.  It make the case that the US’s anti-democratic  constitution is enabling this takeover.   APPROACHING TRAIN WRECK Last April, Joe Biden was “the calm after the four-year Trump storm”,…