James Kelman, The British Council And The 2012 Edinburgh Writers’ Conference

This is the talk James Kelman gave to the Edinburgh Festival Book Fringe held in Word Power bookshop on Friday, August 10th. On a recent Sunday the Herald had a twenty page full colour supplement in association with the Scottish Tourist Board. Stories from the land that inspired Disney Pixar’s Brave. That’s us. The land…

Councillor Adopts Principled Stance Against The Cuts

TO: Elaine Kerr, Senior Admin Officer, Walsall Voluntary Action. FROM: Councillor Pete Smith.[1]Pete Smith stood for and was elected as the Democratic Labour candidate in the Blakenall Ward of Walsall Metropolitan Burgh Council in the May local elections. Walsall Democratic Labour stood as part of the Trade Union and Socialist Coaltion. RE: Council Spending Priority…

Solidarity With The Miners At Marikana Platinum

We are posting this statement from the Abahlali base Mjondolo (Shack Dwellers) Movement in response to the police killing of at least 34 mineworkers at Marikana Platinum mine, 100 miles north west of Johannesburg on Thursday 16th August. The Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement began in Durban, South Africa, in early 2005. Although it is overwhelmingly located…

The Political Significance Of The Merger Of Irish Physical Force Republicans

We are posting two articles on the recently agreed merger between three  of the physical force Republican groups. The first is by Tommy McKearney, former IRA hunger striker, and now in  the Independent Workers Union . The second is by John McAnulty of Socialist Democracy (Ireland).  John was a Peoples Democracy councillor on Belfast City…

Reports From Ireland – North And South

Below can be found two very interesting articles from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) forcussing on particular issues in Ireland. The first  highlights the continued  the sectarian nature of the post-Good Friday state in the North, and the second, the continued lowering of working class consciousness in the South, under the debilitating social partnership of state, big…

For An Independent Scottish Socialist Republic

The Republican Communist Network supports the creation of an independent Scottish Socialist Republic as a significant step towards communism. We look to and would support a Federation of European Socialist States. Our support is for a genuinely independent Republic, not a sham façade that presents a Scottish nationalism that settles for symbols, not substance. A…

A Report On The Situation In Greece

RCN member, Eric Chester, has just returned from a trip to Greece, where he spoke to members of SYRIZA and ANTARSYA. Here is Eric’s report. During a recent visit to Greece, I was able to get some sense of the enormous problems confronting that country. Greeks are very proud of their past, not only the…

Martin McGuinness Shakes Hands With Elizabrit

éirígí’s Rúnaí Ginearálta, Breandán Mac Cionnaith, has responded to the decision by the Sinn Féin leadership to endorse a meeting with the British queen, Elizabeth Windsor, commander-in-chief of Britain’s armed forces. Mac Cionnaith said, “The decision by Sinn Féin to meet with the British queen is not in the least unsurprising, unanticipated or unexpected. However,…

Why The Independence Referendum Is Being Turned Into One On NATO

Murdo Ritchie looks at what is behind the SNP leadership’s move to drop party policy against NATO. The coming referendum on Scottish independence is rapidly being turned into one on NATO membership too. It is consciously being used to shape the future character of Scotland’s relationship with the principal nuclear weapons powers. Supposedly, only a…

Marian Price Campaign

FROM BELMARSH TO BELFAST Bernadette Devlin McAliskey civil rights activist, witness to Bloody Sunday, leading spokesperson for Smash H-Block campaign in 1980-81 and former MP for mid-Ulster spoke at a Glasgow meeting on 14th June 2012 entitled From Belfast to Belmarsh which called for the end to internment and detention without trial, freedom for Marian…