Articles
Saturday, June 8, 2019
From post war ideals of planning towns and land use to benefit people recent years have seen the balance divisively shift in favour of private developers. Nevertheless the Town and Country Planning Association has set out ambitious and radical proposals to reverse this trend and create places of beauty and opportunity for people to live in.
Friday, June 7, 2019
The Red Paper Collective publication, Time for a Radical Scottish Parliament and MSP Neil Findlay's book Socialism and Hope survey the political scene in Scotland and suggest ways forward for the left and the Scottish people.
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Book review. A thought provoking read which follows the story of a US academic whose parents left the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He returns to capitalist Moscow in 2008 and the novel documents his struggle to adapt and the dilemmas he encounters in his life there.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
The Tories and the media are consumed with the unfolding Brexit crisis. However, beyond that they are still the party of the wealthy, wreaking destruction in every area of our public services, in peoples' lives and in the economy.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
The Tories handling of Brexit has been monumentally incompetent and the powers that be are still attempting to reverse the Leave vote. But they face big challenges as they do not wish to be seen to be completely undemocratic. Hence the reason for promoting a second referendum. Yet all that hangs in the balance, with no guarantee of the outcome of such a vote.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Hopes of ousting Donald Trump were buoyed by last November's mid-term elections in the US. The Democrats won sweeping gains and had their biggest margin of victory over the Republicans since Watergate. Encouragingly a number of new progressive Democrats associated with the Bernie Sanders campaign and the Democratic Socialists of America were elected. the fight is on to secure a progressive Democrat candidate for the presidential race in 2020.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Capitalism is still struggling to resolve the problems of the financial crash of 2008. Governments intervened to support the banks and the financial system which were close to collapse. however, it is not they but the peoples of the countries affected which have paid the price for this. Given the inability to deal with the failings of the system, it is a matter of when, not if, there is another crash.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Throughout 2018 Donald Trump escalated a trade war with China by imposing steadily more tariffs and sanctions against goods and technology. It is a significant that the US is moving to curtail China's developing capabilities in high tech industries, with Huawei being a particular target.