Current Issue - RADICAL SCOTTISH POLITICAL WRITING

Editorial – 20th Anniversary Reflections on the Scottish Parliament

The theme of this issue of Scottish Left Review is an examination of the intentions, processes and outcomes of the[…]

Has devolution lived up to its promise?

Michael Keating makes a balance sheet of the good, the bad and the not so beautiful. Devolution in 1999 was[…]

Red Scotland unrealised?

Elaine Smith argues the Scottish Parliament has made little progress in realising it essential tasks. Gordon Brown, in The Red[…]

How managerialism hijacked Holyrood

Colin Fox says promises have been unfulfilled, challenges ducked and the poorest Scots failed On this, the twentieth anniversary of[…]

Scottish Parliament still to reach its full potential

Dennis Canavan says only independence will allow Holyrood to become a heart in a heartless world. Throughout my entire political[…]

Building democracy for the next 20 years

Grahame Smith argues the Parliament has made a good start but has unfinished business. In his iconic speech at the[…]

The campaign for a Scottish Parliament

Pat Kelly recalls the struggle for a Scottish Assembly and how it shaped the Parliament we have today. In his[…]

Creating a constitutional moment

Pauline Bryan argues Brexit could be an opportunity to remake Britain in a federal mould Sometimes when you ask for[…]

Calling for a democratic, decentralised revolution

Maggie Chapman believes new opportunities are now presenting themselves In the 1980s, communist stalwart, Joe Slovo, set out a two-stage[…]

The parliamentary road to tackling poverty?

Peter Kelly says policies without powers behind them are coming up short in progress against poverty There are currently more[…]

Not yet even a half-way house: parliamentary progress on housing poverty

Graeme Brown reviews progress on housing and homelessness since 1999 1999 seems both close and very distant now. It’s hard[…]

Stalled and stymied? The right to informed democracy in Scotland

Carole Ewart says it didn’t take an FoI request to work out all is not well in the new, open[…]

The Scottish Parliament and transport – transporting us into a new era?

Mick Cash argues opportunities have been missed but the struggle is not yet over Debates around the history of the[…]

On the frontline: crushed by corporate capitalist culture

‘Late Night Girl’ tells of the bullying behaviour at work she suffered and how she is fighting back. My story[…]

Free bus travel – fanciful idea or radical ambition?

Pat Raffety shows how free bus travel can have immense economic and social advantages. Richard Leonard’s keynote speech at the[…]

Cuba’s post-revolution medical advances

On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of its revolution, Imti Choonara, Ollie Hopkins and Kath Campbell chart the progress[…]

The ship that sailed for Spain … to fight the fascists

Graham Wallace explains the what Glasgow’s new memorial is all about. The Glasgow Shipping branch of the RMT union recently[…]

Profit-ism: the nightmare of daydreamers

Patrick Phillips examine the motivation of those that play and pray for profit. Each year, thousands of books are published[…]

Age, ageing and older people’s issues

Bill Johnston concludes his appeal for the left to take older people’s issues seriously This third article concerning age, ageing[…]

Film Review

Rosa Luxemburg (1986), director: Margarethe von Trotte Reviewed by Jackie Bergson This timely re-release of Margarethe von Trotte’s biographical feature[…]

Book Review

Henry Bell, John Maclean – Hero of Red Clydeside, Pluto, pp256, 9780745338385, £14.99 Reviewed by Dave Sherry The explosion of[…]

Vladimir McTavish’s A KICK UP THE TABLOIDS

In 1999, many people were sceptical about the effect the new Parliament would have on the everyday life of ordinary[…]