MEMORIES OF ALAN BOYLAN (1957 – 2024) In 1996, when socialists and communists across Scotland formed the Scottish Socialist Alliance, a larger-than-life figure came into our lives. Alan Boylan was at that time a member of the SNP Trade Union Group. A loud, brash, working class Dundonian, Alan was looking for answers and was being…
Tories Enshrine Impunity For British Security Forces In Law
Connor Beaton of the Republican Socialist Platform has written the following article about the Johnson government’s the latest Overseas Operation Bill. British security forces will gain explicit legal cover to commit crimes at home and abroad under new laws proposed by the UK’s right-wing Tory government with little – if any – resistance from the…
ONE MAN’S TERRORIST
Connor Beaton reviews One Man’s Terrorist by Dan Finn. This first appeared in Red Pepper. ONE MAN’S TERRORIST – A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE IRA When the Irish government announced plans earlier this year to host a special commemorative event for members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) who were killed in the…
REVIEW: CLASS NOT CREED, 1968
Connor Beaton reviews the pamphlet Class Not Creed, 1968 by Richie Venton both as a historic account of events in Northern Ireland and as an indication of the current politics of the Scottish Socialist Party. Fifty years after the beginning of the civil rights movement in the north of Ireland, the whole island…
CRISIS IN THE SSP
The SSP is currently going through another crisis. It survived the traumatic experience of Tommygate, but despite promises, the leadership declined, once the court case was over, to have a full debate on the lessons to be drawn. Instead those who raised these issues (including the RCN) became the subject of attack. However, the position…
NO G20, NO UK – SCOTLAND GOES TO HAMBURG
The SSP was involved in leading the socialist opposition to the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005. Connor Beaton is currently representing the Scottish Socialist Party at the anti-G20 protest in Hamburg. Here is his report posted on the SSP blog. (https://scottishsocialistparty.org/no-g20-no-uk-scotland-goes-hamburg/) NO G20, NO UK – SCOTLAND GOES TO HAMBURG The Scottish Socialist Party is proudly supporting and participating…