Kailash Kutwaroo says independence opens up progressive policy positions for Scotland on the world stage. Should an independent Scotland leave the NATO military alliance? It’s possibly not the most pressing issue for the Scottish independence movement at present, when compared to the more demanding issues such as how Independence can be achieved, the timing of […]
Chris Sutherland makes an impassioned plea to develop a radical agenda for independence. On the eve of the 1916 Easter Rising, Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington, the wife of the pacifist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, asked James Connolly: ‘Tell me, Jim, have you ever any hope of anything on the other side?’ Both her husband and Connolly were to lose […]
Nigel Flanagan calls for a radical shake-up in how unions mobilise to gain collective bargaining rights from employers. Whilst union decline continues, the chances of organising a union recovery in membership and density appears to get worse. In the wake of the catastrophic failure to gain union recognition at US Amazon plant in Alabama in […]
Two political poems by David Bleiman Get Brexit, Donne? The grass grew green again over the rust and richer dust, where leaders’ lies congealed. That turf was turned for further use, a people buried in the mass, ashen, making their piece of the continent. The grass grew tall and this time would be tended well, […]
Let the old and knackered who are within five years of their state retirement age retire early. Their jobs should be ‘swopped’ with an unemployed person under the age of 25. Such a scheme is likely to be cost neutral as the extra cost of paying early state pension is offset by the reduction in […]
Jonathan Deans casts an eye down south to survey a climate of political unaccountability. For many months, Scottish politics was engrossed with the inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against Salmond. The connected Hamilton inquiry also investigated whether Sturgeon had breached the Scottish Ministerial Code by knowingly misleading Parliament […]
Chris Sutherland assesses a major advance for having a balanced definition of anti-Semitism. So many column inches have been written on the 2016 ‘International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’ (IHRA) definition on anti-Semitism with 7 of its 11 accompanying examples proscribing criticism of the state of Israel. Across the media, including the liberal media (BBC, Guardian), it’s […]
The 80s David McKinstry The Keegan perm gave way to the mullet And CD replaced LP, Whilst Essex boys whistled ‘Maggie’s the girl for me’. Unemployment was rising Whilst the Belgrano was sinking, We were told to consume Without conscience or thinking. The nation watched Royal wedding at St. Pauls’, Whilst we prayed in our […]
Gregor Gall analyses a recent report by the Fair Work Convention and finds it fatally flawed. The ‘Fair Work Framework’ (FWF) has been the Scottish Government’s flagship programme on employment issues since 2016. It sets out to make Scotland a ‘fair work’ nation by 2025. With the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections, this next parliament will […]
Stuart Graham lays out what union activists in Glasgow are organising for in the run-up to COP26. Glasgow Trades Union Council (GTUC) attended the STUC Trades Councils conference at the end of January. We requested a session was added to deal with the COP26 conference in Glasgow in November and the required level of mobilisation […]