Binoy Kampmark looks behind the stramash over selling nuclear subs to see a new cold war developing The formation on 15 September 2021 of a new security relationship, AUKUS, by Australia, UK and US sent ripples of shock through the Indo-Pacific. It ruffled the feathers of the French security establishment, who felt it appropriate to […]
Henry Maitles argues that Priti Patel’s ‘hostile environment’ is lamentably nothing new Current debates on refugees and attempts by Western governments to restrict asylum seekers are deeply depressing. Deaths in the Mediterranean and the Channel of the ‘boat people’ have become common while ever more ludicrous schemes – from wave machines to deserted oil rigs […]
Wilma Brown reports on her experience of an overstretched and under-resourced NHS in Scotland We know staff in the NHS are suffering from years of being underpaid and overworked, even before COVID. Despite this, we have seen a huge effort from NHS staff over the past 19 months to meet the needs of the public […]
Dave Watson identifies the dangerous attack on democracy and inadequate resourcing found in the Scottish Government’s proposals The Scottish Government published a consultation paper in August 2021 on creating a National Care Service (NCS) in Scotland. This followed from the Independent Review of Adult Social Care, known as the Feeley Review, which published its findings […]
Shaka King (director) and Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas (writers), Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson In late 1960s Chicago, socialist revolutionary Fred Hampton led the Illinois Black Panthers. As their popularity and power strengthened and grew, they attracted the attention of the highest USA government officials, […]
Leeanne Elizabeth Clark, My Journey Through Life: The Real Me, 2021, self-published, 9781913632069 Reviewed by Carole Ewart This autobiography is an intriguing story from an author that would usually be overlooked. It is a route map on how to thrive despite her parents and going on to family-based care. It explains the impact of parents […]
Colin Turbett The Anglo-Soviet Alliance: Comrades and Allies during WW2, 2021, Pen & Sword Military, pp216, 1526776588 Reviewed by Michael A MacLeod As a schoolboy, I interviewed an uncle for a school project regarding WW2. There, I heard first hand of the Arctic Convoys where my uncle had served as bosun on a Merchant Navy […]
Eve Livingston Make Bosses Pay: Why We Need Unions, 2021, Pluto, pp160, 0745341624 Reviewed by John Wood For some, there is a rare feeling of positivity in the union movement at the moment, as unions prepare to take strike action in Glasgow and beyond, and with a wave of encouraging personnel changes in the senior […]
Jane Holgate Arise: Power, Strategy and Union Resurgence, 2021, Pluto, pp272, 074534402X Reviewed by Michael MacNeil Holgate charts the historical rise and fall of union power but this is no dry or dreary account of the past. The book is structured to build bridges between the new unionisms of the 1880s and the situation facing […]
James McEnaney Class Rules: The truth about Scottish schools, 2021, Luath, pp240, 1910022608 Reviewed by David Watt Class Rules is an engaging tour through Scotland’s contemporary education landscape. It maps out some of key issues in Scottish schools in the early twenty-first century and is recommended for those who wish an up-to-the-minute, broadly-based critique of […]