It's time to jail criminal landlords

Deposits withheld, extortionate fees and glacial-pace repairs; the all too common experience of renting a flat in Scotland. On short term tenancies and seldom aware of their rights private tenants, young people are routinely exploited by dodgy landlords and parasitic agencies. Ever since Thatcher’s “Right to Buy”, cheap social housing provided by local councils has [...]

State wins the day in Edinburgh SDL stalemate

There was a definite sense of deja vu in Edinburgh today as the far-right Scottish Defence League attempted to hold their latest ‘demonstration’, with hundreds of anti-fascists gathering to oppose them. But, unlike last time around, the script could’ve been written well in advance for the way in which events would play out today. And [...]

The SDL must be confronted this Saturday

The story is all too familiar. Once again this Saturday, the rump group of semi-organised racists that make up the “Scottish Defence League” will take to the streets of a Scottish city. Having been denied their proposed march route by Edinburgh City Council last month, the group are now claiming to be holding a “static [...]

SDL denied permission to march in Edinburgh

Edinburgh City Council today denied permission to the far-right Scottish Defence League for a proposed march through the city centre next month. This is the first time that the SDL have gone before a local government decision making body, in the past having favoured circumventing official permission and going straight into negotiations with local police. [...]

Edinburgh Protestors Arrested in Day of Anti-Cuts Action

Thursday saw mass student protests in London and militant action in Glasgow as the Con Dem government passed a law allowing universities to charge £9,000 in tuition fees, part of the continuing impetus of capitalism and its political advocates toward destroying the free provision of education and the universal, collectivist ideas that underpin it. This law and the [...]

"Education for the Masses": Edinburgh Students March Against Cuts

Today I participated in a demonstration in Edinburgh with hundreds of students against the cuts to higher education funding currently being proposed by the Con-Dem government in Westminster. This was part of a wave of student action today across Scotland, from Aberdeen to Glasgow, against attacks to higher education. This article reports the march, before giving my own [...]

The Winter of Discontent is here and now

This week, the Coalition government will face its first major test as it attempts to rush its proposals for the future of Higher Education funding in England – the tripling tuition fees from their current level – through the House of Commons. Huge pressure is coming to bear on Liberal Democrat MPs – nearly all of [...]

Urgent: Nick Clegg coming to Edinburgh TODAY

The inspiring Edinburgh University Occupation has confirmed that his highness Nicholas Cleggerton will be attempting a press conference this afternoon at 3:10 at Our Dynamic Earth, Hollyrood. This should be the climax of what is to be a day of student activism, starting at 1130 at bristo square, involving marches, direct action and hopefully snowballs. [...]

The resistance comes to Scotland: school strikes; uni occupations; thousands on the streets

Today’s massive student protests represented the first nationally co-ordinated days of action against Tory cuts and austerity. Across the country, students walked out of class, went into occupation and took to the streets to show their opposition to the government’s plans to wreck the education system as we know it, through huge cuts to schools [...]

Cameron, retreat, the youth control the streets!

. . .at least on Saturday we did for a bit. While opposition to the cuts hasn’t got as cool in Scotland as it is in France yet, this weekend saw an important beginning for a mass movement to defeat the Tories and Lib Dems with an all-Scotland march organised by the Scottish Trade Unions [...]

« Older Entries