By Jock Mulligan How can the rigorous moral architecture of the ancient Celts relate to today’s politics? Well, we can learn from folk history; much of it is a blueprint for a disciplined, ethical politics of its time- and let me suggest, the Left, especially in places like Scotland and Ireland, where the ghosts of […]
Socialism
Notes 2: New York heralds the New Realism
Kathy O’Connor on Mamdani’s victory. It is an occupational hazard for anyone interested in American politics to become overwhelmed by rhetoric. The national conversation is so often conducted in italics and capital letters—TREASON, LOW-IQ, DEEP STATE—that the essential banality of governance, the stuff that determines whether your rent goes up or your subway runs on […]
Scottish Independence: Freedom for ALL of the British Isles
By Gael. A Beacon in the Storm: Why a Fair Scottish Republic is a Shield Against the Rising Tide The air in these islands is thick with a disquieting hum, a low, guttural growl that speaks of fear, division, and a retreat into the suffocating embrace of a narrow, exclusionary nationalism. We hear it from […]
The Poisoned Tongue versus the Collective Will
By Jock Mulligan Allow me to introduce old Bricriu Nemthenga, or Bricriu Poison-Tongue. He’s a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, particularly famous in the tale of Fled Bricrenn (Bricriu’s Feast). He was a wealthy hospitaller, a man of means who was expected to provide hospitality, but his true nature was one of […]
Your NHS is BETTER than the rest…
By Jock Mulligan The NHS, that grand experiment, the jewel in the crown that’s been tarnished by neglect and miserly hands has featured in debates in Ireland of late and I guarantee you, Labour will make it a huge part of the debate against Scottish Independence. One of the bigger sticking points for the undecided […]
Scottish Political Biographies: Mary Barbour
Mary Barbour, born Mary Rough in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, in 1875, stands as one of Glasgow’s most profoundly kind and courageous champions for the working class. Her life was a testament to the power of community, compassion, and tireless activism, centered on the belief that dignity was a right, not a privilege. The Heart of ‘Mrs […]
Left Recompostion CAN’T Include Red Brownism…
Although Daphne Lawless is in New Zealand, every word of this is familiar as the British left makes its moves to grind together again… My bottom line on Left recomposition is that I’ve found out, by experience, that there are a hell of a lot of people who call themselves Socialist who are reprehensible human […]
Scottish Political Biographies: John Maclean.
John Maclean was a man whose dedication to justice was an act of profound kindness to the working people of Scotland. John Maclean (1879–1923) was a Scottish schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist from the “Red Clydeside” era, who dedicated his tragically short life to educating and organising the working class. A Life Rooted in Empathy Maclean […]
Scottish Political Biographies: Rosie Kane.
Rosie Kane: A Life of Passionate Advocacy and Kindness Rosemary “Rosie” Kane, born on June 5, 1961, is a former Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) politician who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow Region from 2003 to 2007. Rosie Kane’s journey into politics is rooted in her dedication to causes, […]
Golf: Socialism enclosed and privatised
By Jock Mulligan. The editor wanted to know why I hit a wee ball around a municiple gort. I said, “You want both barrels at once, do you? The socialist soul of the golf ball smashed against the exclusivity of the grand clubhouse, and all of it born on the windswept links of Scotland. That’s […]










