For a republican all-islands coalition (update)

In March 2022, Allan Armstrong announced the intention to write three reviews of books written in Ireland addressing the current political situation Socialists face there.  The purpose in doing this has been to build the case for an all-islands, republican internationalist coalition to challenge the UK state and its imperial allies.  These have now been…

Declarations of Love: review by Mary McGregor

Mary McGregor reviews Declarations of Love, poems of Jim Aitken, with drawings by  Martin Gollan. Thos book is published by Culture Matters.  DECLARATIONS OF LOVE Jim Aitken is truly a people’s poet. No allusions so obscure that you need volumes of classical texts to decipher. No pretensions of language so convoluted that you need a…

The language struggle and the challenge to the UK state

The following article by Allan Armstrong looks at the significance of the struggles around the issue of language in Ireland, Wales and England and how they provide a challenge to the UK state. An edited version of this was given as a talk to the Critical Labour Studies Colloqium, held in Aonach Mhacha, Armagh on…

Mary Brooksbank -125th anniversary of her birth

  Hi all, Please join us in Dundee next Saturday 10th December at 1pm for our annual Mary Brooksbank commemoration, this year marking the 125th anniversary of her birth. Mary Brooksbank is Dundee’s best-known communist and trade unionist. Growing up working in the jute mills like many working class women and girls of her day, she wrote…

Review of Paul Mason’s – ‘How to Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance’

Over the Ukraine war, there have been two campist positions which have emerged on the Left – support or apologetics for Putin, and  support or apologetics for NATO, tied to backing for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership. Paul Mason is an example of the latter. Alfie Hancox’s review of Mason’s How to Stop Fascism: History,…

EL&SD coverage of republicanism

The Republican Communist Network and the Republican Communist Forum have been at the centre of the campaign to build support for republicanism in Scotland. This has involved upholding republicanism as the  sovereignty of the people against the UK’s  sovereignty of the Crown-in-Westminster. We have  criticised those who limit republicanism to anti-monarchism, which can provide cover…

Scottish nationalism and class politics: a long term view

The following article by James Foley was first posted on the Conter newsletter. It displays elements of a greater understanding of the nature of the UK state than was shown in Foley’s Left social democratic Britain must break, written for IndyRef1. This new thinking reflects the views expressed in Foley’s forthcoming book, Scotland after Britain,  written…

Why has Putin invaded Ukraine?

Allan Armstrong has written a two-part article, Why has Putin has invaded Ukraine?  The first part was  posted on bella caledonia and the Irish Left Archive.  This has now been amended following the helpful comments from Connor Beaton, Nick Steff and Sairah Tariq. Part 2  has  been posted on Allan’s Intfrobel blog.  The contents of…

The radical history of English republicanism

The following article by Martyn Rush (Labour Momentum) on the history of English Republicanism, to coincide with the Elizabrit’s platinum jubilee, was first published in The Tribune. In modern Britain, the republican movement is largely a forgotten cause. That forgetting comes at the expense of a proud history attested to by writers like Clive Bloom…

A flag for a future republic

The following article by George Gunn was first posed by bella caledonia. It oulines a planned challenge in Golspie on June 4th to  Elizabrit’s platinum jubilee. In this it follows the footsteps of James Connolly’s protest in Dublin against Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897. A FLAG FOR A FUTURE REPUBLIC On Saturday 4th June Yes…