Reviews of Habibi Funk 031, Kayatibu, and The Good Ones
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Home truths
JOHN FOSTER recommends the down-to-earth realism of a political memoir that navigates the surreality of Scottish politics
Jeremy Corbyn with Neil Findlay MSP during a rally at Glasgow's Crowne Plaza Hotel, where the impact of a Corbyn led Labour Government on Scotland was discussed
SIMON DUFF relishes the cross contamination of Damien Hirst’s greatest hits by street artists from France and the US
In view of the grooming gangs inquiry, SIMON PARSONS feels the relevance of this powerful examination of trauma suffered at Medomsley Youth Detention Centre
JOHN GREEN doubts the motivations of a US war photographer who never questions why, or for whom, she is producing images of imperialist conflict
MARIA DUARTE reviews Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Hedda, The Mastermind, and Regretting You
TONY CONWAY welcomes a thrilling and concise history of Hope not Hate, that is also a manual full of tactical advice
PAUL DONOVAN welcomes an inspiring account of living with deafness that has important lessons for the treatment of deaf people in today’s UK
Hope and Despair: Lifting the Lid on the Murky World of Scottish Politics
Neil Findlay, Luath Press £14.99
THIS is the second volume of Neil Findlay’s account of his 10 years in the Scottish Parliament. It provides a brutal exposure of Scottish politics from 2017 to the present.
The years of hope were those between 2017 and 2020. Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto provided a programme for working class empowerment which transformed the perspectives of the Labour movement in Scotland.
The last two years, 2020-21, were those of despair. Corbyn and, in Scotland, Richard Leonard were despatched — and Labour’s new leaders made it clear they would move back towards the politics of New Labour. Then, at the same time as Covid exposed the fatal flaws in both Scotland’s social fabric and its current political institutions, the SNP imploded.
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On the release of her memoir that reveals everything except politics, Sturgeon’s endless media coverage has focused on her panic attacks, sexuality and personal tragedies while ignoring her government’s many failures, writes PAULINE BRYAN
From the ‘marketisation’ of care services to the closure of cultural venues and criminalisation of youth, a new Red Paper reveals how austerity has weakened communities and disproportionately harmed the most vulnerable, write PAULINE BRYAN and VINCE MILLS
While VINCE MILLS laments the resignation of Neil Findlay from Scottish Labour, he explains why he won’t be joining him outside the party in the ongoing struggle for a socialist future
