Mike Small and Sean Bell are signatories to the 2023 Declaration of Calton Hill. Quite independently, they have been making their own observations and commentaries about the current political situation in Scotland in bella caledonia. Recently Mike has written, The Sturgeon era is over: Now what? and Sean has written What have we learned from…
Remembering George Padmore
The following article on Trinidadian revolutionary, George Padmore, written by Perry Blankson, was first posted by the Tribune. REMEMBERING GEORGE PADMORE Trinidadian socialist George Padmore was born in 1903. His Pan-African organising helped to build the struggle against colonialism in the West – and to push independence struggles towards Marxism. Of all the many figures…
More women in the police won’t reduce police violence
The following article by Janey Starling was first posted by openDemocracy. It was written in the aftermath of the damning Casey Report intom the conduct of The Met. It is followed by a comment from EL&SD EB member, Iain Robertson. MORE WOMEN IN THE POLICE WON’T REDUCE POLICE VIOLENCE As reports of hideous violence…
‘Love is love’: LGBT lives and the fight to become Scotland’s First Minister
The following article, written by Kevin Guyan, was first posted by bella caledonia. It examines the different ways SNP leader contenders Kate Forbes and Ash Regan have promoted anti-trans politics. ‘LOVE IS LOVE’: LGBT LIVES AND THE FIGHT TO BECOME SCOTLAND’S FIRST MINISTER ‘Love is Love’, tweeted Ash Regan on the morning of 21 February,…
Announcing the 2023 Declaration of Calton Hill
The following article, written by Allan Armstrong for the Radical Independence Campaign, was first posted by bella caledonia ANNOUNCING THE 2023 DECLARATION OF CALTON HILL On September 18th, November 2014, something truly remarkable in politics happened. By the time of the Scottish independence referendum, held on that day, 97% of Scotland’s potential electorate had registered…
The growing political crisis in France
We are posting this article by David Kellaway of anti-capitalist resistance. It describes well the growing working class resistance to Macron’s proposed pension counter-reforms. It is followed by a statement from the Fourth International affiliated New Anti-capitalist Party (NPA). In a comment at the end, EL&SD EB member, Allan Armstrong makes some additional points about…
The Windsor Framework
The following article by Jon Morris was first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland). It examines the nature of the Windsor Framework, the proposed changes in the Northern Ireland Protocol and the reactions of the DUP and Sinn Fein. THE WINDSOR FRAMEWORK – NI PROTOCOL REFORMED BUT NOT ABOLISHED At the end of February, the…
Olof Palme: the last Social Democrat
Today, following the economic crisis beginning in the 1960s and the rise of neo-liberalism in the UK (1979) and USA(1980) and its triumph in 1989 with collapse of the USSR in 1989, Social democracy has largely degenerated into social neo-liberalism, or even further into Left populism which sometimes allies with and sometimes morphs into Right…
RIC reconstituted and the 2023 Declaration of Calton Hill
This is the conclusion of Completing Scotland’s Democratic Revolution, in which Allan Armstrong examines the legacy of of Scotland’s 2014 Democratic Revolution and the 2023 Declaration of of Calton Hill, designed to complete that unfinished democratic revolution. RIC RECONSTITUTED AND THE 2003 DECLARATION OF CALTON HILL After the attempted shutdown on 17.1.21[1] the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC)…
Dictating to power
We are posting this article, written by Marc Mulholland and first posted by Weekly Worker. We we feel that it makes a valuable contribution to the debate around the important but often under-theorised topic of the Transition from Capitalism to Communism via Socialism. It emphasises the general point of the importance of a thorough going democratic…