The following article on the Cop26 UN climate conference being held in Glasgow first appeared on Media Lens. A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY: THE ‘GREENWASH’ FESTIVAL OF COP26 One of the most damning assessments of COP26, the UN climate conference being held in Glasgow, came from Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist: ‘#COP26 has been named…
Election night USA 2021: the Right strikes back
Many, including some on the Left, have claimed that the election of Joe Biden marked the defeat of Trump’s Right populism and the return of neo-liberal hegemony. However, in the face of the multi-facetted crises facing global capitalism today, the Right populists’ desire to remould the world on the basis of the ditching of old-style…
The need to challenge the Populist Right’s “culture war” warriors
The Populist Right is trying to roll back the gains made the Black Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Movement, the Gay Movement and is trying to prevent Gender Self Determination being legalised. Central to their strategy are attempts to a play one group of oppressed against another. This has led to the emergence of what…
Crossing the Rubicon – Sinn Fein becomes Fianna Fail mark II
The following article was first posted by Socialist Democracy (Ireland). It reports on the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in October CROSSING THE RUBICON With vote on non-jury courts, Sinn Féin finally morphs into Fianna Fail mark II Leader Mary Lou McDonald at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis at the Helix in Dublin. Resolution number 21…
Slow motion civil war in the USA
Daniel Lazare updates his recent article (Approaching train wreck) on the revival of Trump’s fortunes in Joe Bidens’ USA. Right populism is making a return mightily helped by the anti-democratic US constitution. This was first posted by Weekly Worker. SLOW MOTION CIVIL WAR As every car-owner knows, mechanical problems do not fix themselves. Until you…
Data-driven platform workers plan big move
This article about organisation by data-driven platform workers in Edinburgh is written by Cailean Gallagher and was first posted by bella caledonia. PLATFORM WORKERS PLAN BIG MOVE Ask folk in Scotland’s capital if they can describe any of the Edinburgh’s ‘big moves’ and they might mention the reopening of the St James Centre last year,…
Mary MacGregor reviews ‘Ghosts of the Early Morning Shift’
Culture Matters have published the second volume, Ghosts of the Early Shift – An anthology of radical prose from contemporary Scotland, following A Kist of Thistle – An anthology of radical poetry from contemporary Scotland. These have both been edited by Jim Aitken. Here Mary MacGregor, following her review of the first volume, writes a review…
Back to the past – again
James Harvey wrote the following article for Weekly Worker. It looks at the political significance of Tory government’s attempts to unravel the post-Brexit Protocol they signed up for over relationships with the EU and Ireland. BACK TO THE PAST – AGAIN Last week saw just the latest twist in the continuing stand-off between the British government…
What does the union flag tell us about the UK?
Allan Armstrong has rewritten the introduction to the first part of his book, From Pre-Brit to Ex-Brit. In this he takes a closer look at the history of the UK’s Union Flag. WHAT DOES THE UNION FLAG TELL US ABOUT THE UK? Today, even the United Kingdom’s most diehard defenders realise their state may not…
Approaching train wreck
The following article by David Lazare posted by Weekly Worker argues that far from being defeated, Trump’s Right Populists are making new ground, as Joe Biden flounders. It make the case that the US’s anti-democratic constitution is enabling this takeover. APPROACHING TRAIN WRECK Last April, Joe Biden was “the calm after the four-year Trump storm”,…