Emancipation & Liberation » Author: Allan Armstrong

Aug 01 2018

THE BREXIT RATIFICATION REFERENDUM

Category: How they are organised,The EU,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 10:05 pm

This blog has been covering the case for holding a Brexit Ratification referendum. This was brought up at the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) conference held in Edinburgh in March. The motion below was passed at the RIC AGM held on June 30th. This is followed by a letter by Allan Armstrong which was printed in The National, and another by Steve Freeman, which was printed in Weekly Worker.

The following motion was passed at the RIC AGM on June 30th.

1. This meeting recognises that a majority of the Scottish people voted to remain in the European Union.

2. We condemn the Tories imposing a hard anti-working class ‘all British Exit’ on Scotland.

3. We call on the Scottish government to hold a ratification referendum on the Tory deal.

4. We note that if a majority of the Scottish people vote against the Tory deal this would be a justification to trigger a second Independence referendum. Continue reading “THE BREXIT RATIFICATION REFERENDUM”

Tags: 1976 Common Market referendum, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Steve Freeman, Brexit, EU, indyref2, Justine Greening, Nigel Farage, Ratification Referendum, Sally Hunt, Ted Heath, The National, Tories, Weekly Worker

Comments (1)

Jun 22 2018

ALLAN ARMSTRONG REVIEWS ‘THE RED AND THE GREEN’ BY GERARD CAIRNS

Category: Against Unionism,Capitalism and Communism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,Commemorations,Cultural Celebration,Independent class organisations,Our History,SSP and SWP,The crisis on the Left,UK state/British imperialism,What is communism? — RCN @ 12:13 pm

Review of The Red and the Green – Portrait of John Maclean by Gerard Cairns

Gerard Cairns has recently published his informative and challenging new book, The Red and the Green – A Portrait of John Maclean. I have known Gerry since the early 1990s and I would find it hard to call him Gerard, so I will use Gerry for the rest of this review.

The book’s title reveals the two main aspects of Gerry’s assessment of John Maclean. The Red and the Green highlights Gerry’s research into ‘Red’ John and his relationship with the ‘Green’ or Irish community on Clydeside .[1] A Portrait of John Maclean examines Maclean the political activist and family man. It raises questions about how Socialists organise and relate to others, especially their partners and families. When assessing Maclean, Gerry brings his own personal experience to bear. “This has been a very personal portrait of a man I have researched, studied, lectured on, debated for a long time.” [2] Thus Gerry’s book is viewed through the prism of his own life of political activism. Continue reading “ALLAN ARMSTRONG REVIEWS ‘THE RED AND THE GREEN’ BY GERARD CAIRNS”

Tags: 'Forward', 'The Cheviot the Stag and the Black Black Oil, 'The Red Book on Scotland', 1913-4 Dublin Lock Out, 1916 Easter Rising, 40 Hours strike 1919, Alan McCombes, Anti-Poll Tax campaign, Author: Allan Armstrong, Author: Gerry Cairns, Barney Friel, Belfast, Brian Higgins, British road to socialism, British Socialist Party, Catholic Socialist Society, Constance Markiewicz, CPGB, Democratic Revolution, Devolution, Douglas Henderson MP, Dublin, Eddi Reader, Edinburgh, First Irish Republic 1919, First World War, Gaelic language, George Barnes MP, Glasgow, Guth na Bliadhna, Hamish Henderson, Hamish Watt MP, Harry Macshane, Henry Hyndman, High MacDiarmid, Home Rule, Independent Labour Party, IndyRef1, Irish Republican Brotherhood, Irish Volunteers, James Connolly, Jim Larkin, Joe Robinson, John Broom, John MacLean, John Wheatley, Justice, Karl Kautsky, Labour Party, Land Leagues, Lenin, Lieutenant Colonel Cecil L'Estrange Malone MP, Limerick Soviet 1919, Mao-Tse-Tung, Nan Milton, Norman Irons, Peter Petroff, Ray Burnett, Red Clydeside, Republican Faction, Sandy Bells, Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Marxist, Scottish Militant Labour, Scottish Review, Seamus Reader, SNP, Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Workers Party, Star Club, Stephen Coyle, Steve Freeman, Sylvia Pankhurst, T. S. Law, The Call, The Great Unrest, The Red and the Green: A Portrait of John Maclean, Theodore Rothstein, Thurso Berwick, Tom Johnston, Tommy Sheridan, Tony Cliff, Trotsky, UCS Work-In 1972, Waverley Bar Edinburgh, Winnie Ewing

Comments (1)

Nov 07 2017

THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO SET UP A POST-NATIONAL WORLD ORDER

Category: Against Imperialism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,Russia and ex-USSR — RCN @ 6:10 pm

This is the second article on this blog addressing the hundredth anniversary of the October Revolution (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/10/21/national-liberation-and-bolshevism-reconsidered-a-view-from-the-borderlands/). It suggests that a wider focus should be taken, situating this event in the 1916-21 International Revolutionary Wave. This means and looking carefully at other places, showing how Latvia, Finland and Ukraine contributed to this wave. It looks how decisions taken by the Bolsheviks following the timeline of revolution in Russia sometimes had the effect of thwarting the timelines of revolution elsewhere. This had negative consequences for the international revolution.

This contribution is taken from is taken from Volume 4, Internationalism form Below: Communists, Nation-States and Nationalism during the 1916-21 International Revolutionary Wave, by Allan Armstrong.

THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO SET UP A POST-NATIONAL WORLD ORDER

A. DIFFERING TIMELINES OF REVOLUTION

i) April 1916 to March 1921 or ‘October’ 1917 to August 1991?

History records that the key political date of the last century was October 25th, 1917. The consequences of the events, which happened on this day, determined a great deal of world politics for more than seventy years – up until the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Elsewhere, in the Western imperial-dominated world October 25th was marked as November 8th. The last Russian Provisional Government of 1917 was overthrown on this date. Nevertheless, the date became universally characterised as the day the ‘October’ Revolution began. This name stuck despite the fact that the victors, the Bolsheviks, soon changed the Russian calendar from the Old Style (O.S.) used in Tsarist Russia to the New Style (N.S.) used in the rest of the Western world. History also places the location of the key events of this day in Petrograd. This city’s name too has been subject to change, earlier from St. Petersburg to Petrograd, then later to Leningrad, and today back to St. Petersburg. Continue reading “THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION AND THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO SET UP A POST-NATIONAL WORLD ORDER”

Tags: 'Little Russia', A. Duva, all-Russian Constituent Assembly, Another World Is Possible, Antonov-Ovseenko, Author: Allan Armstrong, Bolsheviks, Borotbists, Brest-Litovsk, Carl Mannerheim, Central Rada, Christian Rakovsky, COMECON, Comintern, Communist (bolshevik) Party of the Ukraine, Council of Peoples Delegates, Courland, Don Cossacks, Donets, Easter Rising 1916, Eduard Kviring, Eduskunta, Eugenie Bosch, Finland, Finnish Social Democratic Party, Finnish Workers Committee, General Murayev, Grigori Pyatakov, Helsinki, Internationalism From Below, Izkolat, Jager Battalion, Jewish Social Democratic Bund, Kaledin, Karl Kautsky, Katerynoslav, Kharkhov, Kiev, Kronstadt Rising 1921, Kryvoy Rog, Latvia, Latvian Riflemens Soviet, Latvian Social Democratic Party, Left Independents, Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Lev Iurkevich, Livland, Mensheviks, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, October Revolution, Odessa, Oskari Tokoi, Otto Kuusinen, Peter Stucka, Petrograd, Pyatakov, Radical Left, Red Army, Red Guards, Riga, Right Socialist Revolutionaries, Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, Schutzcorps, Serhii Mazlakh, Simon Petliura, Soviet of Landless Peasants, Svinhufvud, Taras Shevchenko, Ten Days That Show The World, Ukraine, Ukrainian Communist Party (borotbists), Ukrainian Democratic Agrarian Party, Ukrainian Party of Social Revolutionaries, Ukrainian Party of Socialist Independists, Ukrainian Party of Socialist-Federalists, Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Vasyl Shakhrai, Victor Serge, Viipuri (Vyborg), Vitebsk, Vladimir Lenin, Volodymyr Levynsky, Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Volynski Regiment, Warsaw Pact, Yakolev Epshtein

Comments (0)

Oct 16 2017

BEFORE AND AFTER NATIONALISM – An historical perspective

Category: Capitalism and Communism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,For Emancipation: Struggles against Exploitation,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations — RCN @ 4:24 pm

With the emergence of Scottish and Catalan self-determination as major political issues, some on the British Left have reacted against what they dismiss as the rise of nationalism. Ironically they usually completely fail to recognise their own Left unionist British nationalism. Their failure to organise any solidarity with Catalans at the receiving end of Spanish state repression, shows they do not see the upholding of democracy as important.

Such thinking is widely held by the supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. Some, particularly those in the Marxist sects, sometimes argue that nationalism is an ideological problem which can be overcome with consistent propaganda against nationalism, coupled with prioritising economic and social issues.

The article below, written by Allan Armstrong, looks to the material roots of nationalism, showing that ideological struggle alone will not address the problem. Other articles on this blog have highlighted the importance of the struggle for democracy, including the right of self-determination when opposing the UK state and wider imperialism.

____________

Today, it is often difficult to think outside of a framework of the fetishisation of nationalities, which makes nation-states appear to be the ‘natural order’ of things. However, we can go back to the early days of capitalist development, when nation-states were still far from being the ‘natural order’, and far more people used religious terms to explain and understand the world they lived in. It took several centuries of social and economic change, and of wider social and economic developments, before the one-time, near universal link between religion and the state was broken in enough places to allow constitutionally secular states to emerge. States, which were exclusively linked to a particular religion or denomination, gave way, first to tolerant, and then eventually to secular states. Yet religions still existed and, indeed, proliferated within a new, increasingly secular, public world. Is there a possibility of an analogous development, which could bring about a break in the connection between ethnic group, nation and the state in the future? Continue reading “BEFORE AND AFTER NATIONALISM – An historical perspective”

Tags: 'New World Order', 'One Free Market Under God', Author: Allan Armstrong, balkanisation, established religions, European feudalism, European Union, faith schools, Iraq, nation-state, Nationalism, New Labour, North American Free Trade Agreement, Paisleyism, Roman Catholic Church, Secularism, Tory/DUP coalition, UK state, Zaire

Comments (0)

Aug 17 2017

A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, Part 3

Category: Capitalism and Communism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Radical Independence Campaign,Russia and ex-USSR,Scotland,The crisis on the Left,The EU,The global economy,UK state/British imperialism,US imperialism,What is communism? — RCN @ 7:30 pm

This is the third part of A Critique of Jeremy Corbyn and British Left Social Democracy, written by Allan Armstrong. The first part can be read at:- http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/08/09/a-critique-of-jeremy-corbyn-and-british-left-social-democracy/and the second part can be read at:- http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/08/11/a-critique-of-jeremy-corbyn-and-british-left-social-democracy-part-2/

3. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, OFFICIAL AND DISSIDENT COMMUNISM

AND A POLITICS BASED ON EMANCIPATION, LIBERATION AND SELF DETERMINATION

Contents of part 3

a. The limits placed on social democracy during a crisis of global capitalism

b. From revolutionary democratic social democracy to existing state-accommodating reformist social democracy

c. A further shift in the meaning of social democracy; the brief emergence of an alternative revolutionary democratic communism; and the descent to state-backed official communism and dissident communism

d. Social democracy and official communism morph into social neo-liberalism

e. From social liberalism to populism

_______________

a. The limits placed on social democracy during a crisis of global capitalism

i. We are living through a period of unprecedented global crisis – political, economic, social, and cultural. This means that ideas will be tested continuously. A democratic party based on the exploited and oppressed will have people from a whole number of tendencies – communist (as outlined in 2.f.iii), republican socialist, social democratic, movementist, green socialist, socialist feminist, environmental, etc. Continue reading “A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, Part 3”

Tags: 'America First', 'British road to progress', 'Spirit of 45', 1789-95 International Revolutionary Wave, 1847-9 International Revolutionary Wave, 1871 Paris Commune, 1916-23 International Revolutionary Wave, 1989 Tienamen Square, 2011 Arab Spring, 2011 Hetherington Occupation, Alan Greenspan, Alex Tspiras, Alt-Right, Alternative Economic Strategy, Alvaro Garcia Linera, ANTARSYA, Arron Banks, Attak Bulgaria, Author: Allan Armstrong, BlackRock, Bolivarian Revolution, Boris Yeltsin, Breibart, British road to socialism, British social democracy, Broad Left, capitalism, CGIL, CGT, Chicago Boys, China, Christian socialism, CIA, Citizens Revolution, COMECON, communes, Coors, CPI, CPSU, Crimea, Critique of the Erfurt Programme, Critique of the Gotha Programme, Crown Powers, Czechoslovakia 1968, Democrats, Direct Democracy Now, dissident communism, Donald Trump, ECB, Ecuador, established religion, EU, Eurocommunism, Evo Morales, Fabian Society, Felipe Quispe, freethinking, Freidrich Engels, Front National France, General German Workers Association, Glasnost, Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn Greece, Gordon Brown, Hillary Clinton, Hitler-Stalin Pact 1939-41, House of Lords, Hugo Chavez, Hungary 1956, Independent Labour Party, Indignados, ISRP, Istvan Mezsaros, Jacobins, James Connolly, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobbik Hungary, John Smith, Juan Negrin, Karl Marx, Keynesianism, KKE, KKK, KPD, Kronstadt Rising 1921, Labour & Socialist International, Left populism, Leon Blum, Lib-Labs, Liberal Party, Lloyd George, Make Poverty History, Margaret Thatcher, Max Schachtman, Michael Foot, Mikhail Gorbachev, Model Trade Unions, Monarchy, Naomi Klein, National Rifle Association, Neil Kinnock, neo-liberalism, New Labour, Nigel Farage, Northern League Italy, Occupy, official Communism, Old Labour, Pablo Iglesias, Pamyat, Party-state, Perestroika, Peter Mandelson, Podemos, populism, Profintern, PSOE, Radical Liberals, Rafael Correa, Ray Dalio, Red Brown alliances, Republican Spain 1936-9, Republicanism, Republicans, revolutionary democracy, revolutionary societies, Right populism, Robert Mercer, Roger Douglas, Romania, Rosa Luxemburg, Russian Federation, Second International, Secularism, Social Democracy, social imperialism, social liberalism, social monarchism, social patriotism, SPD, SYRIZA, Theresa May, Third International, Tibet, Tony Benn, Tony Blair, Troika, Trotskyism, Uber, UK state, UKIP, Ukraine, USA, USSR, Venezuela, Vietnam, Vladimir Putin, Warsaw Pact, Xinxiang, Yanis Varoufakis, Yugoslavia

Comments (2)

Aug 11 2017

A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, Part 2

Category: Russia and ex-USSR,SSP and SWP,The crisis on the Left,The EU,The global economy,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 6:38 pm

This is the second part of A Critique of Jeremy Corbyn and British Left Social Democracy, written by Allan Armstrong. the first part can be read at:- http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/08/09/a-critique-of-jeremy-corbyn-and-british-left-social-democracy/

2. EMANCIPATION, LIBERATION AND SELF-DETERMINATION AND INTERNATIONALISM FROM BELOW

IN RESPONSE TO NATIONAL SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, AND OFFICIAL AND DISSIDENT COMMUNIST

INTERNATIONALISM FROM ABOVE

Contents of Part 2

a. Why did Corbynism and Left social democracy appear in the UK?

b. The rise and fall of proto-parties outside Labour

c. To party or not to party, that is the question

d. Autonomous organisations

e. International organisation

f. Labour bureaucracy or dissident communist sects – a false choice

______________

a. Why did Corbynism and Left social democracy appear in the UK?

i. One thing that needs explained is how did Corbynism and Left social democracy make a revival which nobody predicted? If we look to Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland, we can see well-supported independent Left organisations, which have developed outside the traditional social democratic parties. One answer to this question is the sheer resilience of conservative organisational forms in a state like the UK with such a long and deep-rooted unionist and imperial history. Continue reading “A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY, Part 2”

Tags: 'Spirit of 45', 1938 Transitional Programme, 1939-41 Hitler Stalin Pact, Anti Austerity Alliance, Anti-Globalisation Movement, Anti-Nazi League, Arthur Scargill, Author: Allan Armstrong, Bakunist, Bernie Sanders, Bolsheviks, Communist League, Counterfire, CPGB-PCC, CPSU, Crown Powers, CWI, Donald Trump, E&L, EACL, First International, Forward Wales, George Galloway, Globalise Resistance, GUE-NGL, International Revolutionary Waves, ISG - Scotland, ISN, IST, Jeremy Corbyn, John Marek, La France Insoumise, Labour Alternative, Labour Party, Lassallian, Left Bloc, Left Unity Party, Maoism, Marxist, Marxist-Leninism, Militant, movementism, NILP, Northern Ireland, Paris Commune, Party, People before Profit, PES, Podemos, Radical Independence Campaign, Respect, Right to Work, RISE - Scotland's Left Alliance, RS21, S&D, Scotland, Scottish Socialist Party, SDLP, Second International, SLP, Socialist Alliance, Socialist Democracy (Ireland), Socialist Resistance, Solidarity, SP, SPGB, Stand up to Racism, SYRIZA, Third International, Tommy Sheridan, Trotskyism, TUSC, Unite Against Fascism, USFI, USSR, Wales, WRP

Comments (4)

Aug 09 2017

A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY

Category: Against Unionism,England,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,The EU,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 3:32 pm

Socialists are now confronted with the unexpected rise of Jeremy Corbyn and the re-emergence of British Left social democracy. This first part of this article by Allan Armstrong will examine the significance of this and make a critical appraisal of their future prospects in the face of the current global multi-faceted political, economic, social, cultural and environmental crisis.

Contents of Part 1

1. From May 2007 to June 2017 – the SNP rules the social democratic roost in Scotland.

2. The rise of Jeremy Corbyn and British Left social democracy

3. The prospects for Corbyn and British Left social democracy when handling economic and social issues

4. The limitations of Corbyn and British Left social democracy when dealing with matters of state

A. Brexit

B. The National Question

a. Conservative, liberal and unionist attempts to maintain the unity of the UK state since the nineteenth century

b. Corbyn and the National Question in Ireland

c. Corbyn and the National Question in Scotland

d. Corbyn and the National Question in Wales

1. From May 2007 to June 2017 – the SNP rules the social democratic roost in Scotland

i. Following the demise of New Labour and its successor, ‘One Nation’ Labour, the SNP has been the most effective upholder of social democracy in the UK. In 2007, the SNP won 363 council seats; 425 in 2012, and 431 in 2017. In 2007, the SNP won 47 MSPs; 69 in 2011; and 63 in 2016, (still easily the largest party at Holyrood). In 2010, the SNP won 6 MPs; 56 out of 59 in 2015, but fell back to 35 in 2017 (still having the largest number of MPs from Scotland by some way). Continue reading “A CRITIQUE OF JEREMY CORBYN AND BRITISH LEFT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY”

Tags: 'Blatcherism', 'Butskellism', 'Devo-Max', 'One Nation Labour', 'Spirit of 45', 2012 Welfare Reform Act, 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts, 79 Group, Alex Salmond, Alex Tspiras, Alternative Economic Strategy, Author: Allan Armstrong, AWL, Bernadette McAliskey, Better Together, Brexit, British Left social democracy, British monarchy, Campaign for Socialism, Cardiff Bay, Chuka Umanna, Clive Lewis, Common Programme, conservtive unionism, CPB, CPGB, Crown-in-Westminster, cultural renaissance, David Cameron, Devolution-all-round, Duncan Smith, DUP, Ed Miliband, Emmanuel Macron, Empire2, England, Far Right, Federalism, Francois Mitterand, George Galloway, Good Friday Agreement, Gordon Brown, Grenfell Flats, Holyrood, House of Lords, IndyRef1, indyref2, Ireland, Irish Civil Rights Movement, Irish Republican Movement, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, John Trickett, Kate Hoey, Kezia Dugdale, Kier Starmer, Labour Friends of Israel, Labour Party, language issue, Leanne Wood, Len McCluskey, liberal unionism, loyalists, Mhairi Black, Micael Gove, Militant, Momentum, Neil Findlay MSP, neo-Keynesianism, New Labour, New Unionism, Nicola Sturgeon, Nigel Farage, Norther Ireland, Orange Order, Plaid Cymru, PUP, Radical Independence Campaign, reactionary unionism, Scotland, Scottish Labour Party, SDLP, Seamus Milne, Single Market, Sinn Fein, SNP, Social Chapter, St. Andrews Agreement, Stormont, Stormont Agreement, SWP, SYRIZA, Theresa May, Tommy Sheppard, Tony Benn, Tony Blair, Tory Right, Trident, TUV, UDA, UK state, UKIP, unionist state, UUP, UVF, Vladimir Putin, Wales, Welsh-British, Welsh-Welsh, Westminster

Comments (4)

Aug 06 2017

TRUMP SAYS, “SCOTLAND JUST WENT THROUGH HELL”

Category: Against Unionism,Russia and ex-USSR,Scotland,The EU,US imperialism — RCN @ 7:03 pm

The following article by Allan Armstrong was a first posted on the bella caledonia blog at:- http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2017/08/04/trump-says-scotland-went-through-hell/

TRUMP SAYS, “SCOTLAND JUST WENT THROUGH HELL”.
BUT THAT NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT HE HAS PLANNED FOR US

Trump has tweeted his opposition to Scottish independence. “Is Scotland going for the vote, by the way. It would be terrible. They just went through hell”. Hell being IndyRef1, and not the Brexit campaign that contributed to the murder of Jo Cox MP, and Jacub Rusiecki, factory worker, or the suicide of 16 year old Dagmara Przybysz after racist bullying; nor the spike in physical attacks and racist harassment following the Brexit vote. Trump supported Brexit and saw his own election to the US presidency as ‘Brexit plus, plus, plus’. Continue reading “TRUMP SAYS, “SCOTLAND JUST WENT THROUGH HELL””

Tags: "Brexit Plus Plus Plus", Albania, Ataka, Author: Allan Armstrong, Bella Caledonia, Brexiters, China, Dagmara Przybysz, Democrat Party, Donald Trump, Empire2, EU, Far Right, Fox News, Geert Wilders, Germany, Golden Dawn, Hillary Clinton, IndyRef1, Jacob Rusiecki, Jeremy Hunt, Jo Cox MP, Jobbik, Marine Le Pen, Michael Pence, Montenegro, Polish Law and Justice Party, Republican Party, Right populism, Russia, Russia Today, Sarah Palin, Tory Right, UK, UKIP, Vladimir Putin

Comments (4)

Jul 07 2017

ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th

Category: Against Unionism,England,For Liberation: Struggles against Oppression,How they are organised,How we organise,Independent class organisations,Ireland,Political Campaigns,Radical Independence Campaign,Scotland,SSP and SWP,The crisis on the Left,The Socialist Republican Break-up of the UK,UK state/British imperialism — RCN @ 3:18 pm

Allan Armstrong was delegated at the RISE National Forum held in Edinburgh on 8th April to be its representative at the LUP conference on May 20th. Due to the General Election this was postponed to June 24th. Attached is the full version of the talk he prepared for the conference held in London. In the event, because of time constraints, the oral version was slightly abridged.

This was first posted on the LUP blog:- http://leftunity.org/rise-speaker-addresses-lu-conference/

ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th

I would like to thank the LUP for providing me with the time to address your conference as a visiting representative from RISE. Many of you here today are old enough to remember the heyday of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), which had a considerable impact throughout the UK. The SSP united the overwhelming majority of socialists in Scotland and at its height had 6 MSPs. It inspired the Socialist Alliance (SA) in England and Wales. Although the SP and the SWP managed to sabotage the SA, the SSP’s downfall was an almost entirely Scottish affair. This can be largely laid at the feet of a certain Tommy Sheridan.

After 2004, socialists in Scotland were very divided. IndyRef1, though, provided an opportunity for socialists to regain political influence. Young socialists, largely unaffected by ‘Tommygate’, initiated the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) in 2012. This coalition, or united front, brought together, not only many of the previously divided socialists, but the Left in the SNP and the Greens and a majority not involved in any party. Continue reading “ADDRESS TO THE LEFT UNITY CONFERENCE ON JUNE 24th”

Tags: 'Tommygate', 2017 Labour Manifesto, Author: Allan Armstrong, Brexit, David Miliband, Dennis Canavan, DUP, Glastonbury, Greens, Holyrood, House of Lords, IndyRef1, Jeremy Corbyn, Left Unity Party, Len McCluskey, London Peoples Assembly, Nicola Sturgeon, Northern Ireland, Privy Council, Radical Independence Campaign, RISE - Scotland's Left Alliance, Scotland, Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Socialist Party, Shami Chakrabarti, Sinn Fein, SNP, Syrian War, The National Question, Theresa May, Trident, UNITE, Westminster General Election 2017

Comments (1)

Apr 07 2017

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON ‘THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND’

Category: Against Unionism,Combined struggles for Emancipation, Liberation and National Self-Determination,England,Ireland,Russia and ex-USSR,Scotland,UK state/British imperialism,Wales — RCN @ 6:56 pm

Allan Armstrong makes some observations on The Commonwealth of England written by Steve Freeman (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2017/04/07/the-commonwealth-of-england/). He examines the likely role that federalism will play in IndyRef2, drawing on the historical precedents for its use in the UK and USSR.

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND

There is a great deal I agree with in Steve’s article. In a later contribution to this discussion I would like to develop Steve’s historic analysis, going back to the days of the Levellers, through the Chartists and on to the Suffragettes. However, in these observations, I will confine myself to the issue of federalism.

The politics of federalism, whenever it has been raised within the UK, has always represented a last ditch unionist attempt to preserve the UK. The political origins of the idea of British federalism go back to the first attempts to hold together the British Empire in North America, when faced by the challenge of American republicanism. It failed. A federal UK has been Liberal Party policy for over a century, with no obvious effect on the UK constitution. The challenge of Irish republicanism and the War of Independence from 1919, led to a Westminster Speakers’ Conference. This recommended a federal solution for the UK. It too failed. Although the UK state did instead, after Loyalist pogroms and reactionary Partition, come up with the earliest form of political Devolution in the UK – Stormont. No wonder it was difficult for others later to win support for devolution in Scotland and Wales, when Stormont formed the precedent!
Continue reading “SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON ‘THE COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND’”

Tags: American republicanism, Author: Allan Armstrong, Commonwealth of England Scotland and Wales, Commonwealth of Independent States, Crown-in-Parliament, England, Federalism, Gordon Brown, Greater Englanderism, Irish Republicanism, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Kezia Dugdale, Liberal Party, liberal unionism, Little Englanderism, Mikhail Gorbachev, reactionary unionism, Stormont, Theresa May, Tony Benn, Union of Sovereign States, USSR, Westminster

Comments (4)