Part One – the Meaning of the May 5th Elections A good kicking for the Lib-Dems disguises the wider impact of the National Question on May 5th On May 5th, the Lib-Dem-initiated referendum proposal to introduce AV to Westminster elections was massively rejected in every nation and region of the UK, including Northern Ireland. In…
Open Letter – No Vote for Galloway
This was issued by the Manchester-based blogger, ‘Infantile and disorderly‘, on May 2. On May 5, George Galloway will be standing for election to Holyrood. The former Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin is heading the George Galloway (Respect) – Coalition Against Cuts list. He has the backing…
English republican socialism
In last May’S general election I stood against Simon Hughes in Bermondsey and Old Southwark as an Independent. The main message was that working people must oppose the “Great Bankster Robbery” being planned by the banks and the major parties. Whoever won the election, Labour, Tory or the Liberal Democrats, the embedded ‘coalition’ with the…
No British Withdrawal? No Royal Visits!
Statement from eirigi, an Irish republican socialist organisation Preparing the Ground There has been much political and media speculation in recent years about the possibility of a state visit to the Twenty-Six Counties by the British head of state, Elizabeth Windsor. This speculation has formed part of an elaborate ‘softening-up’ exercise designed to prepare the…
Two Royal Weddings and…. A Republican Funeral for the UK?
Allan Armstrong argues why we need to build a militant republican movement in the UK 2011 – what they don’t want us to remember 2011 brings the tenth year of the US/UK imperial war in Afghanistan and the third year of the ongoing economic crisis, brought to us initially by the US and British banks…
Two Royal Weddings… and a Republican Funeral for the UK?
Allan Armstrong (RCN) has written an article for the Word Power site (see Two Royal Weddings and… a Republican Funeral for the UK? by Allan Armstrong). He is author of the book, From Davitt to Connolly and co-author of the pamphlet, ‘Republicanism, Socialism and Democracy‘, puts the case for using the opportunity provided by the British…
RCN Statement on the decision of George Galloway to stand in next year’s Holyrood elections
George Galloway has decided, with the backing of Respect in England and Wales, to stand as an MSP in Glasgow in next year’s Holyrood elections. This decision would apparently have been taken with or without Respect’s support. It amounts to little more than an attempt at carpet-bagging, following his removal from the celebrity spotlight, when…
From Davitt to Connolly – ‘Internationalism From Below’ Book Launch
‘Internationalism from Below’ and the challenge to the UK state and British Empire from 1879 – 1895 Launch on 19th November Venue: Word Power Books 43-45 West Nicolson Street Edinburgh EH8 9DB For More details see Internationalism From Below
A reply to Alan Johnstone of the Socialist Party of Great Britain” from Allan Armstrong
In his letter to Weekly Worker, no. 812, Alan Johnstone attacks my claim that Marx and Engels would have been supporters of an ‘internationalism from below’ strategy from the time of the First International. On Alan’s first point, that what socialists should do in 2010 does not depend on what Marx and Engels may or…
A Reply to Nick Roger’s Workers Unity not Separatism
A Reply to Nick Roger’s Workers Unity not Separatism (edited version in Weekly Worker, no. 211) Independent Action Required to Achieve Genuine Workers’ Unity First, I would like to thank Nick for the tenor of his contribution to the debate about communist strategy in the states of the UK and the 26 county Irish republic.…