Posted by Cailean Gallagher

Jez there can be a Corbynite Labour Party in Scotland

Inside Labour Scotland with KeziaSince the leadership election, Jeremy Corbyn has made it his priority to turn Labour into a democratic socialist party with the support of social movements. To this end, British-wide meetings have been organised by groups such as the Labour Campaign for Free Education, whose party guide for newcomers is in circulation. But socialists are also attending to their distinctive situations in the regions and nations of the UK, where quick local organising could transform and radicalise the Labour party from the bottom up.

Can Corbyn activists grow socialism at a civic level in northern cities like Newcastle? What might London socialists do to resist a reactionary turn from ‘independent-minded’ Sadiq Kahn during the mayoral election? How should socialists penetrate the Welsh party where Carwyn Jones is sure to resist the anti-capitalism of this new movement? Continue reading →

Could Jeremy Corbyn unite the Scottish Left?

Is there a scottish road to socialismThen catch the moments as they fly
And use them as ye ought, man.
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.

Robert Burns, A Bottle and Friend

Here is surely a mutiny worth waiting for. Old hands and new recruits have swung into action for Jeremy Corbyn, the old sea dog of Labour socialism. A startled Captain Harman whipped her Labour MPs into supporting Osborne’s Welfare Reform Bill – Burnham dithered then walked the plank, and Cooper fell over a barrel. The media barrage will try and hit its mark, but, as Aneurin Bevan wrote soon before becoming Health Minister in 1945, “the national newspapers have become so accustomed to writing up personalities in place of principles that they have completely lost touch with the people.”  It’s not a personality that’s winning popular support, but a set of principles both radical and realistic. Blairite gabs can only gape as 40% of members intend to vote for Corbyn, who last week became the bookies’ favourite to lead the Party, and secured the most nominations from Constituency Labour Parties across the UK. Continue reading →

Is Scotland’s Radical Independence movement a Class act?

1503917_811111418930048_8232632660068068253_nThere was a touch of class about last weekend’s Radical Independence conference (RIC): slick presentation, businesslike suits, and bold stage-lighting that shone a pinkish tint on the pale faces that packed the Clyde Auditorium one bright November day. If the job was to give RIC a new sheen, the organisers can be pleased with the result. There is a fresh coat of varnish on the rough jigsaw of local events, campaign groups, political parties, and mass canvasses that was pieced together into a recognizable brand over the course of two frenetic years’ campaigning.

No question, RIC has reasserted its institutional and radical identity after the referendum defeat – but there remains a lingering doubt that a gloss of leftish optimism and the pinkish glow of high-power bulbs concealed the superficiality of this new left-wing populist movement. Did a classy style conceal the classless substance running through RIC’s veins? Continue reading →

What radical exception can break Jim Murphy’s rule?

Murphy campaignWhat should we expect from the civil war in Scottish Labour? Some veterans of Labour’s last civil war, still haunted by the machiavellian menace of Blairism, see Jim Murphy’s leadership bid as part of a long-term plan to revive the right-wing of the Labour party. If/when Labour lose in 2015, brother Ed will resign and brother David (whose campaign for the Labour leadership was coordinated by Murphy) will fly back from the US to take his place as heir to Blair. After a few years in the Scottish wilderness Murphy will return to London in the name of Progress and become, say, foreign secretary – the last of the Scottish Raj, carrying with him a new centrist Scottish majority to join David Miliband’s ‘progressive alliance’. Continue reading →