Issue 113
Sep – Oct 2019
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Like many others, Scottish Left Review is outraged at the attack on democracy represented by prorogation and condemns this extended suspension of Parliament to allow for a no-deal Brexit to be forced through without any parliamentary scrutiny or the opportunity for parliamentary opposition. Scottish Left Review supports initiatives to mobilise citizens outside of Parliament to […]
Fascism and the far right There are few things more important to the working-class movement than responding to the threat of fascism. Cry ‘fascist’ at every right-wing politician and there’s a danger of missing the real thing. Ignore the risk and then the potential horrors of Nazi Germany await. Neil Davidson (Scottish Left Review Jul/Aug […]
George Kerevan says the British ruling class is experiencing an extended crisis best epitomised by Brexit When Boris Johnson’s political obituary is finally written, you can bet it will contain the infamous quote which said: ‘F*ck business’. But how could a senior bourgeois politician, vying for the leadership of the world’s oldest ruling class political […]
Peter Lynch dissects the new cabinet of BoJo after the night of the long knives It’s hard to know where to start with the Johnson cabinet. Its ideological contours and intentions are very clear in the short term in relation to Brexit, crime and immigration. But, we’re not only unsure how long this government will […]
Chris Stephens surveys the shifting political terrain the coming period Making predictions on what is going to happen in our politics is always difficult. However, once again Scottish Left Review has asked me to pick up the mantle and peer into the immediate future and what the prospects are for Boris Johnson and a ‘no […]
Stephen Low argues Labour’s guns are ready and loaded to shoot Boris and the Tories given the chance A Labour Government led by Jeremy Corbyn Government in the near-ish future is a real prospect. You don’t need to take my word for it. If the spectre of Corbynism wasn’t haunting Westminster, the establishment wouldn’t – […]
Leanne Wood says it’s time for Wales to go its own Welsh way to social justice We live in a time of rapid polarisation and political division. The President of the United States is free to support far-right and neo-Nazi groups while the American left brings an alternative politics to the forefront, even using the […]
Gerry Carroll argues a Tory Brexit will spell a disaster for working people The seemingly never-ending saga of Brexit appears to be entering the crunch stage, as the October 31 deadline for exiting approaches. In Ireland, people are continually shocked at the arrogance, incompetence and ignorance shown by a Tory party intent on forcing through […]
The Jimmy Reid Foundation made this submission to the Institute of Employment Rights The Jimmy Reid Foundation, with 11 affiliates from the major unions in Scotland and an interest and expertise in matters of employment relations, welcomes the publication of the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) draft Charter of Workers’ Rights as an attempt to […]
Though still in poll position, Kenny MacAskill argues all is not well in the ‘House of SNP’ Scotland’s political order has changed with SNP straddling the land as Labour once did. The former giants now reduced to sniping from the side-lines. That this is about the life cycle of politics and that all political parties […]
Robbie McLaughlan explains the SNP’s double-speak on the plight of the poor In September 2005, actor, Mike Myers, and hip-hop artist, Kanye West, appeared on US television to solicit donations as part of a celebrity-driven fundraiser for the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. It was during their segment on the hour-long A Concert for Hurricane […]
Angela McCormack reports on how people are revolting against the politicians’ inaction In 2018 in Scotland, the number of drug-related deaths reached 1,187. This is an increase of 27% from 2017. It is the largest number ever recorded and it has more than doubled in the last decade. These figures are the highest in Europe. […]
Stephen Smellie looks forward to the rebellion unleashed by a Swedish school student Thousands of young people across the world are preparing for strike action on 20 September. However, it is not unions or any leftist parties that are organising and leading this strike movement. Instead, hundreds of school students, co-ordinating through social media, have […]
Dylan Hamilton outlines a week of escalating action against climate change by youngsters From 20 to 27 of September, there will be a massive week of action with people in over one hundred countries around the globe taking part. This week of action has come after years of governments and corporations ignoring climate change to […]
Jackie Williams highlights the differences and similarities the NHS faces on privatisation north and south of the border The dangers inherent in NHS trusts in England setting up wholly owned subsidiaries (WOSs) – in a bid to avoid tax – are increasingly apparent in terms of threats to patient services and jobs. Of this, we […]
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. […]
XY Chelsea, 2019, director: Tim Travers Hawkins Reviewed by Jackie Bergson Political and social relevance resounds sensitively and intensely within this documentary about whistle-blower, Chelsea Manning. XY Chelsea mainly arcs across the time between her release from prison in January 2017 and May 2019, when she was re-imprisoned for refusing to testify before the United […]
Willy Slavin, Life Is Not A Long Quiet River: A Memoir, Birlinn, £12. 99, 9781780275789 Reviewed by Donny O’Rourke I don’t know if Slavin is ‘prole-ier than thou’ but he’s certainly holier than most. This troublesome priest, who will be eighty in January not only takes Jesus seriously – he takes him literally. Father Slavin, […]
The James Connolly Reader, edited by Shaun Harkin, Haymarket Press, 2018, 9781608466467 Reviewed by Dave Sherry Born to Irish immigrants in an Edinburgh slum, Connolly was driven into the army through poverty at fourteen, being sent to serve in Ireland. When he learned his regiment was being transferred to India, he deserted and returned to […]
James McEnaney, A Scottish Journey: Personal Impressions of Modern Scotland, Luath, £9.99, 9781912147427 Reviewed by Maggie Chapman A lot has been written about the democratic foment of the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. This is not a book about that momentous period in our history. But it is firmly located in the Scotland created during […]
Jamie Woodcock, Marx at the Arcade: Consoles, controllers and class struggle, Haymarket, 9781642590142 Reviewed by Gordon Morgan This is a fascinating book, which delves into the video games industry in all its forms. It takes us from the original games developed in the 1950s by the US military, through the popular personal computer (PC) and […]
We live in such volatile times that it is distinctly possible that every word of this column will be either irrelevant or out-of-date or both by the time you are reading it. It is Wednesday 28 August 2019, as I am finishing off this piece, and Boris Johnson has just asked the Queen to suspend […]