David Jamieson of the International Socialist Group has replied to two contributions made by Allan Armstrong of the Republican Communist Network (see David Jamieson of the ISG replies to Allan Armstrong). These took a critical look at ISG member, James Foley’s pamphlet, Britain Must Break, and examined the prospects for the Radical Independence Campaign, and the role…
Cruel Britannia – Secret History Of Torture
Tommy McKearney, former republican hunger striker and now activist with the Independent Workers Union in Ireland, has written the following review of Ian Cobain’s book, Cruel Britannia: A Secret History of Torture on his blog. Britain’s public and its government are currently devoting significant attention to the behaviour of the nation’s broadcast and print media. Both…
Radical Independence Conference
The Radical Independence Conference (http://radicalindependence.org/), being held this Saturday, 24th November in Glasgow, is likely to be the biggest gathering of the Left in Scotland for many years. The RCN has been covering this event since the first open organising meeting in June. We have produced a special issue of our magazine, Emancipation & Liberation,…
Scottish Self-Determination And The ‘Actually Existing’ Labour Movement
A response to the Red Paper Collective’s Power for Scotland’s People – A labour movement view The ‘Independent Scotland Debate’ was organised by the Edinburgh Peoples Festival on September 9th. 86 people attended this well-conducted event in the Out of the Blue Centre in Leith. The speaker supporting independence was Kevin Williamson of bella caledonia,…
‘Britain Must Break’ To Defend ‘Real Labour’ or ‘The Break-Up Of The UK’ To Advance Republican Socialism?
Allan Armstrong (RCN) welcomes the new pamphlet Britain Must Break by the International Socialist Group (Scotland) and offers some fraternal criticism. Introduction The Scottish government’s 2014 ‘independence’ referendum has produced a flurry of analysis and activity amongst the Left in Scotland. This has led several Socialist organisations to come together to promote the Radical Independence Conference[1]The…
Shadow Dancer
By the early 1990s it was apparent that the IRA had been militarily defeated by the British. The fantasy that an organisation of a few hundred active members could beat a professional army of tens of thousands backed up a a massive police and intelligence apparatus was laid bare. The resulting demoralisation made it very…
The Angels’ Share
Ken Loach’s latest film is surely one of his best. The affectionate narrative tells the unlikely yet somehow plausible tale of four working class young Glaswegians who become experts in whiskey and who proceed to mount a heroic scam to make their fortune and their escape from lives of poverty and crime. A deft combination…
Review: Onsind – Dissatisfacton
Album available at name your price with a minimum of £0 ONSIND are an acoustic pop punk band from Durham. Their name is in reference to the lack of abortion facilities in some areas of America. I recently attended a gig put on by the Make That a Take DIY (anti-sexist, anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-homophobic)…
Mary McGregor reviews ‘The Last Calendar of Events’ by Jim Aitken
Jim Aitken is a regular contributor to Emancipation & Liberation. He has published several books of poetry. Here Mary McGregor, also a teacher of English, reviews Jim’s Last Calendar of Events, which covers his last year of teaching. “And I gave them ideals and have held on to then still a youthful spirit unbroken.” On…
Gregor Gall – Tommy Sheridan Biography Sources
Emancipation & Liberation is cited a few times in Gregor Gall’s new book Tommy Sheridan: From Hero to Zero? A political biography.. We have pulled together these cited articles in links here for anyone who is using the book for such purposes. Page and note numbers refer to the first edition hardback edition (these may…