James Foley is the author, with Pete Ramand, of Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence and, with Neil Davidson and Ben Wray, of Scotland After Britain: The Two Souls of Scottish Independence (Verso Books, 2022).
The arrest of former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s husband has dealt another blow to her political legacy. She has left her Scottish National Party greatly weakened — and with its plans for independence in tatters.
Fashionable academic theorists have dismissed the Marxist approach to nationalism as outdated and inadequate. But it remains an indispensable guide to national independence movements — urging support for them when they represent a challenge to capitalist rule.
Ahead of May’s Scottish elections, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon finds herself embroiled in an intense row with her predecessor Alex Salmond, who last week formed his own separate party. The clash between the two is sure to dominate the election campaign — but it’s also a distraction from the democratic issues at the heart of the independence movement.