Linda Somerville argues the left can productively utilise tech against capital if its knows how ‘Consumer software on our computers and mobile devices has transformed how people organise their lives and their interactions with each other, and it is the new expanded terrain on which organising succeeds or fails.’ Becky Bond and Zack Exley, Rules […]
Using his personal experience, longstanding activist, John Dennis, calls for the radical left to come together again We face an uncertain immediate political future in Britain with various possible Brexit outcomes and a general election likely quite soon. This means we should have an opportunity to start making moves towards reuniting the left in Scotland. […]
Ian Gasse reports on the relaunch of a valuable resource for all those concerning with the plight of workers’ struggles in Scotland This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of its first journal by the Scottish Labour History Society (SLHS). It is also a year in which the Society is launching a new […]
Peter Lomas examines the dynamics behind the Iranian nuclear programme The Iranian nuclear programme attracting so much controversy in the news is to all appearances a deliberate approach to the ‘threshold’ of weapons-capability. Focused on uranium enrichment, it is the object of international diplomacy in the shape of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action […]
Chris Holligan unearths how class divisions play out in our supposed meritocratic educational system This piece is stimulated by my experience holidaying in Elie this summer. Elie has a failed economy. Most of the properties are third or fourth homes. They are lived in for some of the summer period of the British public schools. […]
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 […]