On the morning of July 6th, myself and Raphie DeSantos, both members of the SSP, were tasked with organising buses, bus stewards and getting people on buses to go up to Gleneagles from Waterloo Place in the centre of Edinburgh. It was a chaotic scene, with many more people showing up without tickets than with,…
Facing up to the Challenge
Nick Clarke looks at the Left’s response to G8 Over a year ago, comrades from the anti-capitalist movement, Globalise Resistance and the Scottish Socialist Party came together to create G8 Alternatives. G8 Alternatives immediately started organising, agitating, and campaigning to make sure that, when the world’s leading imperialists turned up at Gleneagles in July, they…
The Legacy of the Gleneagles Summit
The 2005 G8 Summit, held at the luxury Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland from July 6th to July 8th, was notable for many reasons but three which stood out in particular were: (i) the failure to come up with anything to alleviate unremitting poverty in Africa other than a pledge to raise aid by a paltry…
Death Squad Britain – the Case of Jean Charles de Menezes
In the aftermath of Jean Charles’ murder, Steve Kaczynski looks at Britain’s shoot-to-kill policy On July 7 and July 21, bombs exploded in London. On July 22, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician named Jean Charles de Menezes left his flat. He was followed by anti-terrorist police and in Stockwell underground station , he was shot a…
A few thoughts on literary matters
by John Manson John Manson is a Sutherland-born, Dumfriesshire-based poet, reviewer and translator. He has published a number of poetry collections including East Sutherland and Other Poems. He has also translated Victor Serges, Carnets (1944), available at Victorserge After reading Allan Armstrong’s Beyond Broadswords and Bayonets (E&L 5/6) he wrote making the following helpful comments.…
Caught Between the Covenant and the Clans
A Reply to Allan Armstrong The full, illustrated pamphlet is available from the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement Allan Armstrong is to be commended for his excellent contribution to Scottish radical/revolutionary history, Between Broadsword and Bayonets, Emancipation & Liberation, Issue 5/6. In this piece Allan seeks to expose the left nationalist and left unionist traditions within…
Consistently democratic and vibrant?
In the Autumn 2004 edition of Emancipation and Liberation there is an editorial on The role of platforms in the SSP – Why have the RCN platform? While agreeing with much of the article at a certain point it says: One reason that platforms are suppressed is they may present a threat to the controlling…
Reply to The Role of Platforms in the SSP
The gap between the Scottish Socialist Party’s success in the Scottish Parliament election of May 2003 and the poor showing in the 2005 General Election, have led to a number of discussions and suggestions within the party. The Republican Communist Network has made its own proposals in the last two issues of Emancipation & Liberation…
Helen Macfarlane: A Feminist, Revolutionary Journalist and Philosopher in mid-nineteenth century England
by David Black, Published by Lexington Books, Maryland. Tribute to Helen Macfarlane— That the Parliament notes the forthcoming launch of the book, Helen Macfarlane: A Feminist, Revolutionary Journalist and Philosopher in mid-nineteenth century England; welcomes the fact that this radical Scotswoman will at last be rescued from obscurity and given her place of importance in…
The British Left and the Irish Struggle
Former Sinn Féin member, Philip Ferguson, has written an important article, Behind the betrayal, showing both the significance of the Irish national liberation struggle against the British state, and a critique of the politics of its leadership. However, he also points out the much greater failings of the British left, when it came to offering…