Contents of Issue 132
Editorial: The tectonic plates of politics shift again His and her family firm: Publicly funded pinnacle of inequality in wealth and
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Report winter 2022
The Foundation held a very successful ninth annual lecture on the evening of Thursday 6 October with around 200 people in
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The tectonic plates of politics shift again
Tories are in a continued crisis but still the attacks continue … but before we get to that, there is the
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The his and her family firm: The publicly-funded pinnacle of inequality in wealth and power
Tommy Sheppard lays out the case against the monarchy. I’m not sure which is the more depressing: that the UK has
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Off with their heids as we keep ours – the unfinished revolution must be finished
Bill Bonnar examines the feting of the monarchs but sees the prospect of change ahead. As socialists, we were dreading it.
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Subject-ive Questions By David McKinstry
Is it now time to stand tall And abandon the royal bowing and scraping? If nothing else think of the money
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Yes, a republic! But what sort of republic?
Gregor Gall surveys the options we can choose from and who might help to deliver it. The death of the queen
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The monarchy is not the boon for tourism that it’s made out to be
Republic explains the facts behind the lies and statistics. UK tourism is a major part of the UK economy, worth around
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Creating a workers’ economy starts in the workplace
Pat Rafferty says workers are winning and on the march again. The last two years have demonstrated who really matters in
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Education workers and their unions are arising
Mary Senior reports on the on-going battle in universities for pay and pension justice. This summer of unrest, strikes and union
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There is no just transition without social infrastructure
Katie Gallogly-Nelson lays out what a just transition must mean to the wider array of workers. While the temperature is projected
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Calling out the deadly dinosaurs amongst our own brothers and sisters
Stephen Smellie argues we cannot contemplate backtracking on fighting the climate crisis. In the current cost-of-living crisis, it is to be
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Not so much of a care service and more of a complete omnishambles
Stephen Low recommends that the Scottish Government rips it up and starts again. The Scottish Government has broken new ground with
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Scotland’s divided health is tantamount to social apartheid
Chris Yuill says the solutions to the health inequalities that still stalk Scotland lie in economic and social change. Walk across
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The Police Scotland Colombian connection: Can wrong become right?
Nick MacWilliam reports on the abuse of human rights in Colombia and the prospects for change. In April 2021, Colombians launched
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The Manichaeism reality of Scottish ferries policy
Alf Baird tells a woeful tale of incompetence, arrogance and worse on the high and low seas. [Manichaeism is a religion
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Looking back over the decades from a prolific provider of political poems
David McKinstry casts his poetic eye across the decades of the Elizabeth II’s ‘reign’ over us. The 1980s were covered by
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The forgotten village of Tirai (Glen Lochay)
Patrick Phillips looks at the social aspects of anthropology and architecture of a lost village in Scotland. On maps today, ruins
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Film Review
Kevin Macdonald, director, The Mauritanian, 2021 (with writers: Rory Haines, Michael Bronner and Sohrab Noshirvani) Reviewed by Jackie Bergson. The Mauritanian
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Book Review
Ralph Guentzel, The Quest for a Feasible Utopia: Historical variants of democratic socialism and their contemporary implications, Nomos, 2022, pp238 Reviewed
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Book Review
’Mon the Workers’. Celebrating 125 Years of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, ed. Daniel Gray with photography by Alan McCredie, Luath
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Book Review
Catherine Flynn (ed.) The Cambridge Centenary Ulysses: The 1922 Text with Essays and Notes, Cambridge, 2022, £30, pp988, 9781316515945 and Sam
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Book Review
Roger Seifert, UNITE History Volume 2 (1932-1945): The Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU): No Turning Back: The Road to War
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Book Review
Eileen Turnbull, A Very British Conspiracy – The Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice, Verso, 2022, £16.99, pp384, 9781804290149 Reviewed
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VLADIMIR McTAVISH – A KICK UP THE TABLOIDS
A week is a long time in politics, as the old cliche goes. We never know what could be just around
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In Truss, they trusted
After BoJo’s long but often AWOL goodbye since resigning on 7 July 2022, you still need to pinch yourself to recognise
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Breaking, breaking – this just in: Holyrood can change things!
Tracey Dalling sets out what some creative thinking could achieve for raising revenue for public services Faced with demands for decent
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A taxing matter: Sources of and dilemmas about new revenue streams for public services in Scotland
Mike Danson examines the constraints and options as we face a coming winter of discontent Few are against workers and citizens
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Creating a gender equal economy in Scotland – what’s needed
Sara Cowan says women suffer disproportionately from Covid, climate change and the cost-of-living crisis The Covid-19 crisis is not over for
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Are our councils working?
Dave Watson examines a recent investigation and reprises ideas for how to improve the situation This summer, The Ferret, in conjunction
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Profiting from care – Why Scotland cannot afford privatised social care
Francis Stuart details the case for public, not-for-profit care following the publication of the STUC’s ground-breaking report Scotland’s large private social
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Not so much a national service – more like a massive attack
Stephen Low argues the National Care Service will be a case of centralised managerialism gone mad The Scottish Government has published
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The Starmer selection box: supine without spine, subterfuge, star-chambers and sycophancy
Vince Mills dissects the disaster that is the Starmer leadership of Labour The Starmer ‘phenomenon’ is not one that history will
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The call must go out: Organise against new anti-strike threats
Daniel Randall details what Truss and the Tories have in store for unions and workers’ rights Then prospective PM, Liz Truss,
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Democracy without freedom of information is no democracy at all
Katy Clark explains why she has laid a badly needed Bill before the Scottish Parliament This month, I plan to introduce
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The other war in Asia-Europe that is never mentioned: Turkey’s genocide against the Kurds
Goran Zangana looks behind the media blackout to explain what is going on and what needs to happen Abass was married
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Community pharmacists supporting the supply of the required medicines to Ukrainian hospitals
Maurice Hickey explains the initiative to provide concrete solidarity in this time of war The European Association of Employed Community Pharmacists
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Germany as a new political powder keg – can the left rise to the challenge?
Christine Buchholz looks at the crisis enveloping all political parties as the winds of change blow through Though Germany has been
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The European radical left – a busman’s holiday around all the airts and pairts shows cooperation and coalition is the favoured strategy
Barbara Steiner gives an overview of the strength of left parties in Europe, revealing not everything is bad Let’s begin by
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