Issue 108
Nov – Dec 2018
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Editorial This was an issue of Scottish Left Review we could not put off any longer. Since the referendum in June 2016, we have covered the decision of Britain to leave the EU and its attendant prospects every so often and with one or two articles. But until now we have not made it the […]
George Kerevan sets out his socialist position in the context of the contradictions of capitalism WHAT position should socialists advance regarding optimal trade arrangements with the rest of Europe, in the event Britain does quit the EU? Let’s leave aside the tactical debate on the efficacy of a second Brexit vote, or the fraught arguments […]
Jim Sillars say capital rules the roost in the EU so the only way is out In requesting views on preferred options ‘after Britain has left the EU’, the editor has almost asked for the impossible as no one knows what Brexit will mean until a deal is struck and we can study the details. […]
Neil Findlay articulates Labour’s position The next few weeks and months will see the culmination of a forty-year civil war amongst Tories. From the days of Heath taking us into the Common Market, Thatcher signing the Single European Act, Major the Maastricht treaty and Cameron’s referendum dilemma, each has faced a hostile onslaught of criticism […]
Molly Scott Cato makes the case for stopping a disaster by having a ‘People’s Vote’ ‘Brexit means Brexit’ declared Theresa May. Though what exactly Brexit means depends, of course, on who you speak to. What is clear is that there is no version which commands majority support in Parliament, let alone any version that is […]
Mick Whelan lays out why his union supported Brexit and what it expects from the negotiations ASLEF backed Brexit – the campaign to leave the European Union – in the referendum in Britain in 2016. Not because we wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nigel Farage – a man memorably described by The Economist […]
Steven Agnew argues that only avoiding Brexit can resolve the border issue in Ireland It’s now been around 850 days since the EU referendum and there is still no agreement as to what ‘no hard border’ means in practice. And yet, the Brexiteers promised us that it would all be so simple. That, as Tory […]
Jane Carolan examines the consequences of the neo-liberal EU for workers’ rights What do you want? Do you favour a Chequers Brexit or a ‘no deal’ deal? Should it be Canada plus or WTO rules? Another choice is another referendum, in the hope that a rerun will produce a different result from 2016. Bombarded by […]
Kirsty Hughes shows Brexit has thrown up many more questions than answers The October summit where a Brexit deal was meant to be signed off has come and gone. Plans for an emergency November summit have been put on ice, with the EU’s regular summit in mid-December now looking the most likely end point. Uncertainty […]
Neil Davidson warns of dangers past, present and future for Corbyn, Labour and socialists For over 200 years after 1688 political governance in England, then Britain, was a relatively simple matter for British capitalism. Two parties representing different wings of the ruling class, Tories and Whigs, would alternate in office, with different emphasis reflecting their […]
Sarah Collins argues for using Brexit to sort out longstanding ailments on wages and conditions The TUC and many others are keen to highlight the potential impact that Brexit will have on workers’ rights, or the erosion thereof. In its August online briefing, the TUC noted: ‘right now, EU law protects equal pay for equal […]
Bob Thomson argues Scottish Labour’s leader has ditched its policy of the Scottish people having the right to decide their own form of government Public and media attention on the debacle that is Brexit meant there was little attention given to the speech given by the Scottish Party leader, Richard Leonard MSP, at this year’s […]
Mary Senior summaries the recommendations of the influential new report on economic justice Established in the wake of the EU referendum, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Commission on Economic Justice is a landmark initiative to rethink economic policy for post-Brexit Britain. Commission members came from all walks of life, different political view points, […]
Max Wiszniewski explains what the Scottish Independence Convention funding raising initiative is about It’s time for the Scottish independence movement to build beyond its base and get support consistently beyond 50% in the polls. In the absence of any formal campaign body, it’s commendable that the movement has maintained support at its current level despite […]
Nick Cimini and Pete Robertson say careers advice should not be shackled to neo-liberal diktats Unions are well placed to support career education and guidance for young people. Though the TUC and STUC currently have initiatives of this nature, we believe there is scope for a greater role for unions, and that educationalists and policy […]
Sandy Hobbs makes a plea for reassessing how we look at anti-semitism In 1993 socialist historians Dorothy and E. P. Thompson were interviewed for a television programme. Summing up their lives in politics, Dorothy expressed regret that they had underestimated the extent to which people are willing to fight for their racial, ethnic, cultural and […]
In the first of a series of articles, Bill Johnston looks the so-called troublesome demographics. This is the first in a series of three linked articles on the implications of an ageing population for Scottish politics and civil society. This article outlines the demographic issues, and challenges the current ‘dependency’ framing of retirement. Current Scottish […]
Mike Quille explains why culture is critical to human being and how it and we can flourish Culture matters to the many, not just the few. This article is a contribution to the growing debate and campaigns on the socialist left, in the labour movement and in academia about culture, the cultural struggle and cultural […]
BlacKkKlansman (2018) – Writer and Director: Spike Lee Reviewed by Jackie Bergson For those of you who missed out on seeing BlacKkKlansman while it was on general release earlier this year, you might like to make a point of catching it now on a digital format. Insightful and pointedly timely, Spike Lee’s crime drama’s truth-telling […]
Chris Bambery and George Kerevan, Catalonia Reborn; How Catalonia Took on the Corrupt Spanish State and the Legacy of Franco, 2018, Luath, £12.99, 9781912147380 Reviewed by Bill Bonnar. This recently published work is a welcome account of the current struggle for Catalan independence. Most relevant are the first chapter, Birth of a Republic, and the […]
James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, Commentary by Douglas Gifford, Readings by John Sheldon, Association for Scottish Literary Studies, £14.95, 9780948877827 Reviewed by Sean Sheehan This is a set of two CDs, not the book by James Hogg that was published anonymously in 1824 and best read in the Oxford […]
The International Companion to James Macpherson and the Poems of Ossian, edited by Dafydd Moore, Scottish Literature International, £14.95, 9781908980199 James Macpherson, The Poems of Ossian: The Son of Fingal (Classic Reprint), Forgotten Books, £12.85, 9781331367130 Reviewed by Sean Sheehan. James Macpherson was born in Inverness-shire in 1736, the son of a tenant farmer, and […]
John Kelly Contemporary Trotskyism: Parties, Sects and Social Movements in Britain, 2018, Routledge, 9781138943810, £23.99, pp296 Reviewed by Gordon Morgan The Fourth International held its first congress 80 years ago on 3 September 1938 in France. It is timely that this book has been published as it relates to the enduring legacy of Leon Trotsky, […]
Darren McGarvey Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass, Luath, 2018, 9781912147038, £7.99 Reviewed by Seán Duffy Something of a surprise winner of the Orwell Prize, Darren McGarvey’s journey through the travails of growing up on the sharp end of the economic spectrum is a worthy recipient of praise and pondering. The avenue of […]
Wade Rathke Nuts and Bolts: The ACORN Fundamentals of Organizing, Social Policy Press, 2018, 0997094311 Reviewed by Tony Adams Nuts and Bolts is a compendium of tools, examples from the field, advice and tips for building power and effective mass organisation in the community, workplaces, politics and the media. Rathke shares almost 50 years of […]
Vladimir McTavish’s A KICK UP THE TABLOIDS There has been no lack of hyperbole in the media over the past few months as Britain approaches the cliff edge of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. The headlines have boomed out on the front pages and on the BBC. This is ‘The Most Important Constitutional Crisis since the Abdication’, […]