Since I wrote the first part of my reply (Allan Armstrong (RCN) replies to David Jamieson (ISG) – part 1) I have met David for the first time. Face-to-face discussions are a better way of trying to understand the thinking and positions that others hold. They can also help to overcome some preconceived notions. In the…
Offensive Behaviour And The Independence Referendum
In the following two articles, Jim Slaven of the James Connolly Society shows that SNP government’s Offensive Behaviour Act represents the latest attempt to create a ‘sectarian’ smokescreen to avoid tacking anti-Irish racism in Scotland, whilst the Labour Party’s ‘opposition’ is nothing but the rankest opportunism from a party that has long upheld the UK…
NATO, Nuclear Weapons And Scottish Independence
Eric Chester (RCN and IWW) exposes the contradictions of the SNP’s anti-Trident, pro-NATO stance. The Scottish National Party has insisted that an independent Scotland would be free of nuclear weapons. This position reflects the fact that Scottish popular opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to the stationing of the Trident submarine system at Faslane. These subs, a leftover…
Women And Scottish Independence
Alicia Arquera, a member of the International Socialist Group, gave this Introduction to a discussion on Women and Independence at the Edinburgh branch of the Radical Independence Campaign on April 29th. I just wanted to start by saying that I am pleased I am to have been asked to speak this evening on women and…
Republic Day Speech
Allan Armstrong (RCN) was invited by the James Connolly Society to speak on behalf of the Edinburgh branch of the Radical Independence Campaign at the Republic Day commemoration on April 24th at the Connolly plaque in the Cowgate, Edinburgh. I would like to thank the James Connolly Society and the 1916 Societies for inviting the…
Good Friday Agreement – Thatcher’s Progressive Legacy?
John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland) helps to clear up some of the confusion about Thatcher’s legacy with regard to Ireland. Some have argued that, after ditching the hard-line Ulster Unionists in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement, she opened up the way to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (GFA). John, however, highlights that, the degree to which Thatcher…
Blacklist – Enough Is Enough, Time For Action
Blacklisting continues on a daily basis up and down the country. Why, oh why? With our best trade union activists denied work and kept off-sits, this massively lessens our ability to organise and stand up to building employers on site. This means no ELECTED conveners or other shop stewards or safety reps, and our lives…
The Bedroom Tax in Northern Ireland
This article on the ‘Bedroom Tax’ in Northern Ireland comes from eirigi. Several parallels (some erroneous and some useful) have been drawn between the ‘Bedroom Tax’ and the Poll Tax. However, even Thatcher’s Tory government never tried to introduce the Poll Tax into Northern Ireland in the context of the Republican struggle there. Today, the…
We did not win but we are now the Left in UNITE
The results of the election for the General Secretary of UNITE election have been announced. This was a contest between the incumbent Broad Left Len McLuskey and the Rank & File challenger, Jerry Hicks. McCluskey had the support of the Right (they offered no challenger of their own, which speaks volumes) and much of the…
Jerry Hicks – UNITE General Secretary Election Update
George Osborne said ‘Faster deeper’ cuts he meant it. Our side calls for strike action against those cuts – but do we mean it? The announcement that Unite, is calling for a 24-hour general strike against austerity measures is very welcome. A serious program of strikes to defeat the Con Dem government is long overdue…