John MacLean Commemoration 2011

The Scottish Republican Socialist Movement recently held their John MacLean Commemoration. And I was sent this message on Facebook.
"MacLean commemoration went well. Good support from the Thornliebank Republican flute band. Gerry Cairns from John MacLean Society spoke at the rally along with both myself and Robbie MacDonald from the Northern England branch of SRSM. There were also speakers from FRFI."
alan

Also speech from SRSM Northern England Branch
Firstly I bring fraternal greetings from the Northern England branch -commun- of the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement.
We have been very active recently.
Last month -with the banner- we were on the massive TUC March in London.
Last week we were on a 1000 strong May Day march through City Centre Leeds.
Later this month -again with the banner- we will be on an anti-cuts demonstration in Wakefield, the first left femo there's been in the town for many a year.
And as well as us bringing fraternal greetings -and being active south of the border- I am aware that Peter Urban who is in San Francisco has sent greetings to this rally on behalf of the International Republican Socialist Network.
And I think what this goes to emphasise is that what this is all about -what Scottish Republicanism is all about---what John MacLean was all about---is true working class internationalism.
All too often the British Unionist Left say they oppose the break up of the British state because they are internationalists.
But Lenin -a great admirer of MacLean- advocated self determination for nations and for peoples who felt oppressed. Self determination lay at the heart of internationalism. The preservation of existing state boundaries was of no concern to the working class he said.
Lenin criticised those -such as Marxists in the Austrian Empire- who saw self determination simply in terms of cultural autonomy within existing states. He criticised also those -like Rosa Luxemburg- who argued against self determination for Poland for instance on account of its existing apparent economic integration with other states.
So MacLean -with his call for a Scottish Workers Republic- was at the heart of that internationalist tradition, that socialist tradition.
And it was that internationalism that spurred MacLean on.....
*He became Honorary President of the First All Russian Congress of Soviets.
*He became the first Soviet consul in Scotland.
*He formed an enduring friendship with Larkin and went to Belfast to support the dockers.
*He wrote of James Connolly and spoke out against British repression in Ireland.
So today we remember and we salute the memory of John MacLean.
*We remember him as a pioneer in working class education.
*We remember him as a great public speaker.
*We remember him as a principled opponent of imperialist wars.
*But surely we remember him above all as a socialist who saw the link between fighting national oppression and international working class solidarity.
Thank you comrades.
All Hail the Scottish Workers Republic!

Do you live in the north of England? Do you support an independent Socialist Scotland? We now have a branch of the SRSM. If you would like to join or help out please get in touch. alanharperstewart@hotmail.co.uk