A review of Breaking Up the British State: Scotland, Independence and Socialism, Bob Fotheringham, Colm Bryce and Dave Sherry (eds) (Bookmarks, 2021), £12 Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland’s devolved government, was perhaps the only politician to emerge with any… Continue Reading
For many people the only association they have with the work of Robert Burns is singing Auld Lang Syne at New Year celebrations or at annual Burns Supper events. The real Burns, the radical, revolutionary Burns, is rarely even hinted… Continue Reading
Scottish exceptionalism constantly pushes itself into the headlines. In 2014 the independence referendum came quite close to tearing the British state apart. The general election in 2015 saw the almost total wipeout of the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems.… Continue Reading
The previous issue of International Socialism included an excellent analysis of the Brexit vote by Charlie Kimber.1 Charlie argued that the vote to leave the European Union was a “bitter blow to the establishment”, that social class was a major… Continue Reading
The British general election of 7 May 2015 represented a curious mixture of stasis and dramatic change. But its outcome—the election of the first majority Tory government for 20 years—underlines that what we are confronted with is a crisis of… Continue Reading
The British ruling class wheezed a huge collective sigh of relief at the Scottish independence referendum result. The No camp secured victory with 55 percent of the vote and the Yes side polled 45 percent. 97 percent of the electorate… Continue Reading
Creeping up on the British state is potentially its biggest internal crisis since the struggle for Irish self-determination reached its climax a century ago. The outcome of the referendum on Scottish independence on 18 September could tear a huge chunk… Continue Reading
David Cameron chose to open 2012 with one of those tactical misjudgements increasingly typical of the overconfident, untested politicians of the coalition. On this occasion the subject was the timing and content of a future referendum on Scottish independence. Under… Continue Reading
A year has elapsed since the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed its first government in the devolved Scottish Parliament. The SNP took power at a time when neoliberal strategies all but completely dominated mainstream politics.1 However, the SNP appears to… Continue Reading