Not a week goes by in Scottish politics when the decision to vote No in 2014 does not rear its ugly head. November 2023, the Scottish Broadcasting Company reports growing unrest south of the border. Massive crowds are gathering daily outside Westminster, demanding an end to Tory rule, following emergency legislation allowing the General Election […]
Industry
North East communities must lead Scotland’s Just Transition
This last July saw the 34th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster, in which 167 people needlessly lost their lives. Workers on two nearby platforms, Claymore and Tartan which pumped to Piper Alpha, could see that the platform they were pumping to was alight. But they had been told never to shut off the oil […]
Reinstate Richie Venton
I just woke up this morning to this article. My friend Richie Venton, a superb union representative for the union USDAW, and IKEA worker, has been sacked. During lockdown, I phoned Richie about an issue a family member was going through in her work. He didn’t have to give me advice – Richie was representing […]
Corruption in West Dunbartonshire Council
by Councillor Jim Bollan “A whistle blower approached myself and my colleague Cllr George Black about corruption by senior WDC officials. We met the whistle blower in Dumbarton in late 2016. The main charge was that the managing director of a private company Called JRB Construction Ltd was being “allocated” Council work below the radar […]
Who are the “Working Class” today?
The subject of Social Class is an area where angels fear to tread, but in these times of deep fragmentation of the UK political Left, it is time to look at what the “Working Class” means to Socialists in the 21st Century. As I write, and the news about PM Boris Johnson’s planned prorogation of […]
ASDA are the Latest in the Tory Fight against our Rights…
As a lifelong trade unionist & socialist to boot, I find some flaws in the GMB’s stance regarding the current situation within ASDA changes to employees T&C’s. Maybe this is a personal rant, But I’d like to look at it objectively. Where do I start? Maybe at the beginning is always a good place, Even […]
Watch Puppies on YouTube…
Available FREE on iTunes and Podbean Welcome to part two of Ungagged’s podcast based loosely around the Karl Liebknecht.” quote, “The basic law of capitalism is you or I, not both you and I.” On this episode, Paul Sheridan lead singer of The Wakes tells us, “Profit before people, coca cola is it!, The talented Debra Torrance tells […]
Michelin Closure Highlights Need For A Just Transition
I was devastated, but perhaps not really surprised, to hear of the closure of Dundee’s largest industrial employment base – Michelin – a couple of weeks ago. Last month I wrote about how the 2008 financial crash signalled just how broken our economy is. The Michelin closure is perhaps the most recent example, close to […]
The Future of the American City
As I vacuum the dark green carpet while listening to an interview with author and Democracy Now! Co-host Juan Gonzalez, I’m struck by a particular statistic: 70% of the world’s population will reside in cities in the next two years. The implications of this, says Gonzalez, are gigantic for progressivism, as these cities will become […]
Life In The Empire Part 3: The Shredded Fabric of Reality
Growing up American feels like the old metaphor of a fish being removed from the river. The fish has no concept of water itself because the liquid home is all it has ever known. Once it is yanked from the stream, its worldview is shattered. A new world has been discovered and the fish […]