Guest post: the death agony of Scottish Unionism
This is a guest post by Eddie Truman, an Edinburgh-based activist in the Scottish Socialist Party. THE news, when it came, was scarcely believable; ‘Scottish Conservative Party set to disband’, said the Telegraph. A sensationalist headline perhaps – things are a little more complex than that – but with the Telegraph’s Scottish editor Alan Cochrane’s [...]
The English leftist case for Scottish independence
AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would condemn the remnants of the United Kingdom to Tory government in perpetuity. Much as such a prospect inevitably somewhat displeases me, even that constitutes insufficient grounds for the English left to oppose the idea. I’m only just back in this country after more than two weeks in the US, and I [...]
After Glasgow East: party like it’s 1931
Those radio alarm clocks can be right inconsiderate little bastards sometimes. I turned in last night in the full expectation that New Labour would hold on to Glasgow East, if only just. I awoke to hear that the seat – held by Labour or the far left for 80 years – had fallen to the [...]
Scottish independence and the English left
The reasons why the Scottish National Party are so often derided as Tartan Tories continue to escape me. I’ve always found it more analytically useful to consider them as some species of social democrats. Let’s put it like this: since Alex Salmond took over at Holyrood last May, I have read nothing to suggest that [...]
New Labour, the SNP and Scottish independence
Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and now John Reid have all used their speeches to the Scottish Labour Party conference this weekend to wade into the Scottish National Party. Anybody would think that New Labour is frightened of something. Like getting its arse seriously kicked in the Scottish Assembly elections next year, for instance. It was [...]
