A review of Imagine by Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes, the (then) leaders of the Scottish Socialist Party. An attempt by Trotskyists (formerly of Militant) to become libertarian sounding are not very convincing. At the height of its electoral success in 2003, the party had six Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) but it then imploded, in thanks to the activities of its leader, Sheridan, and the cult of personality the party had created around him. It appeared in Black Flag no. 224 (2004).
(more…)Articles and Reviews
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Lies, Damn Lies and Economics
A review of five works on economics and the economy published in the late 1990s. It was my first significant article for the magazine Black Flag, whose editorial committee I had just joined. It appeared in Black Flag No. 215 (1998)
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Black Flag: Anarchist Review Spring 2026 issue now out
The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:
This year’s first issue has the usual mix of articles, re-prints and reviews, starting with an evaluation of German Anarchist John Most (1846-1906) and the development of his politics. We show that in the years following his arrival in America, he was not a consistent anarchist in both tactics and vision of a social revolution. The latter reflected his Marxist-Blanquist past while the former – his advocacy of “propaganda by deed” – was due to misinformation on Bakunin spread by Marx and Engels. While he did help the emerging American revolutionary anarchist movement grow as well as becoming a consistent anarchist after 1887, his politics before that were in transition. We include a selection of writings from his anarchist period plus a report from The Alarm of one his speeches as well as The Beast of Property (1883), so that the anarchist and non-anarchist aspects of it can be seen.
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Sylvia Pankhurst: Anti-Parliamentarian Communist
An account of the evolution of Sylvia Pankhurst from suffragette to supporter of the Bolshevik regime and then to council communist. It discusses the similarities of her ideas to anarchism as well as her links to the movement. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Volume 5 Number 3 (Autumn 2025).
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Divided by time, united by hope
Review of two books on social struggle, one on the 1930s and one on the anti-globalisation movement of the 2000s.
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