THE SCOTTISH LEFT PROJECT

Allan Armstrong (RCN and RIC activist) provides the following initial assessment of the proposed Scottish Left Project. This is the final part of three articles, the first of which examines the role of the UK state and SNP in attempting to derail Scotland’s ‘democratic revolution’ (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2015/02/24/british-unionists-and-scottish-nationalists-attempt-to-derail-scotlands-democratic-revolution/) and the second which looks at the inadequate response of the Left…

APPEALS TO THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN AND TO REPUBLICAN SOCIALISTS IN ENGLAND

Steve Freeman, who is standing as a republican socialist candidate in the Bermondsey & Old Southwark constituency  in the Westminster General Election on May 8th has issued the following two appeals. Could RIC members supporting Steve’s candidature please e-mail him:- steve@republicansocialists.org.uk _______________  1. AN APPEAL TO THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN Another England Is Possible    Dear…

THE LEFT IN THE UK, THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND THE WIDER IMPACT OF SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’

After analysing the role of the constitutional nationalists of the SNP, the liberal and conservative unionists amongst  the Conservatives, Labour and Lib-Dems and the reactionary unionists led by UKIP, and their attempt to roll back Scotland’s ‘Democratic Revolution’ (http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2015/02/24/british-unionists-and-scottish-nationalists-attempt-to-derail-scotlands-democratic-revolution/), Allan Armstrong (RCN) examines the problematic role of the Left in the UK in challenging this.    1. The UK constitutional issue will be central to…

INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY – MARCH 8th

In recognition of International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8th, we are posting two contributions. The first is the introductory talk on IWD given by Linda Rogers and Cat Grant to the Edinburgh Radical Independence Campaign meeting on March 2nd. The second is a major contribution to the history of women’s suffrage, entitled Finland 1906:…

PROMOTING REPUBLICANISM

Murdo Ritchie (RCN) wrote the following article for  supporters of the Republican Socialist alliance. It was first also posted on Murdo’s blog  at  http://murdoritchie.blog.co.uk/2015/02/13/promoting-republicanism-20090169/. _____________ PROMOTING REPUBLICANISM The advocacy of socialist republicanism has very few precedents in the United Kingdom. While many organisations can make claims to republicanism, in most cases this has been rarely…

ROLLING BACK SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’

Allan Armstrong (RCN) updates his socialist republican analyses of constitutional developments in the UK and Ireland, in the lead up to the May 2015 Westminster election. ___________ ROLLING BACK SCOTLAND’S ‘DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION’ 1. British unionists and Scottish nationalists attempt to derail Scotland’s ‘democratic revolution’   There are several important features to the political landscape we can currently…

STORMONT HOUSE DEAL

Below are two articles from the latest edition of Socialist Democracy (Ireland). They provide an account and analysis of the Stormont House Deal between the UK government and the DUP/Sinn Fein coalition in Stormont over the implementation of Westminster imposed cuts, against the background of threats to stand down Stormont.   (http://www.socialistdemocracy.org/Bulletins/SDBulletinJan2015StormontHouseDeal.html and www.socialistdemocracy.org/Bulletins/SDBulletinJan2015SectarianismAndAusterityTwinPillarsOfReaction.html)  …

THE RCN AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION

THE REPUBLICAN COMMUNIST NETWORK, THE RADICAL INDEPENDENCE CAMPAIGN, AND THE CAMPAIGN FOR SCOTTISH SELF-DETERMINATION Contents A) The emergence and clash of Left British unionism and Left Scottish nationalism B) The politics of the Scottish independence referendum campaign C) How the Left responded to the demand for greater national self-determination in Scotland D) Carrying over lessons…

THE RCN’S UPDATED ‘WHAT WE STAND FOR’

Over the RCN weekend away from November 7th-9th 2014 held near Dunfermline and our aggregates held on January 11th in Edinburgh and February 21st, 2015 in Glasgow, we updated our What We Stand For in the light of our recent engagement with the struggle for Scottish self-determination and our ongoing discussions on communism, secularism and…

THE CURSE OF NATIONALISM

Eric Chester (RCN) outlines his view of the political dangers represented by the SNP   The independence referendum has substantially changed the political landscape of Scotland. With 45% of the voters supporting independence, and many others deterred from joining them by a last minute fear campaign, there is a widespread belief that the election was stolen and that…