Back from a women’s delegation to northern Syria in 2018, Sarah Glynn reports on her visit A common defence of liberal democracy is that other systems are worse. Most people’s engagement in the political process is limited to putting a cross in a box every few years, but inability to affect the forces that shape […]
George Reid wonders whether Corbyn is hamstrung by his attachment to the ‘left analysis’ of the EU ‘Blimey, that was us!’ I spluttered, nearly choking on my Sangria. My holiday reading in Spain had been The Alan Clark Diaries, penned by the eponymous enigma who combined ultra right-wing politics, philandering and class snobbery with – […]
Siobhan McCready says it’s time for Leonard’s leadership to be supported not supplanted When Richard Leonard won the Scottish Labour leadership race in 2017, many saw it as a signal we were now firmly on a different path. New activists, enthused by the messages coming from British Labour and Jeremy Corbyn, saw this as a […]
Mike Danson and Geoff Whittam summarise their research on where new local government funding can come from Local government has had the largest cut in Scottish government funding allocations in recent years, bearing the brunt of austerity. UNISON, along with others, has been highlighting the overall cuts and in their ‘damage’ report series have set […]
Pam Currie reflects on the successes of the further education lecturers’ campaign for better conditions Scottish further education lecturers settled a pay dispute in June 2019 after six days of strike action – the only part of the Scottish public sector to take strike action in pursuit of a cost of living pay rise this […]
Jeremy Valentine dissects the destruction of our public universities and suggests what changes are needed to re-invigorate them as ‘public goods’ institutions Even though Scotland’s universities are currently a devolved matter, they are not unaffected by political developments at the British level. For example, following the recent Westminster government commissioned 2019 Augur report on post-18 […]
Niamh McNulty explains why XR Scotland has done what it’s done and what it will still do In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion (XR) launched a week of civil disobedience. It saw roads in major cities closed to motorists and turned into sites of defiance and community, operating as stages for the anger, grief and hope […]
The UN Special Rapporteur Report on Extreme Poverty in Britain illustrates the impact of austerity and a hostile policy environment. But what, Lynn Williams asks, does it mean for Scotland? The Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) recently held a ‘Community Event’ with Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), providing an […]
Bill Bonnar explains the path China is on and the challenges it faces The People’s Republic of China (PRC) celebrates its seventieth birthday this year. It’s moved from being a war-ravaged vassal of western imperialism to the world’s second largest economy. What are socialists to make of this? Analysis is often like this. From 1949-1978, […]
David Watt explains the work of the Socialist Educational Association Scotland Jimmy Reid’s rectorial speech of nearly fifty years ago continues to challenge the role of Scottish education. He spoke of the challenge of eradicating poverty, the place of communities and the negative centralising nature of national governments. He set an agenda not yet attained. […]