Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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The left in Scotland must move beyond slogans
Real future planning is needed that moves debate beyond the primacy and comfort zone of Yes v No, says GORDON MUNRO
One of six purpose-built 130,000 litre fermentation vessels, built in the Netherlands, is craned into position after arriving at Celtic Renewables' new biorefinery plant in Grangemouth near Falkirk. The plant will produce over half a million litres each year of Biobutanol biofuel, made using whisky residue
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
“ARISE ye starvelings from your slumbers,
Arise ye criminals of want,
For Reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.”
– The Internationale
The problem is that Scotland is still in its slumbers. The diminution of debate to the primal level of Yes v No has a debilitating effect, but suits the protagonists on either side as it does not raise questions of power — who has it, who wields it and to what purpose.
There are attempts to tackle this void, with the Red Paper Collective publishing writing and material that should be used for political education in parties and trade unions.
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