DIANE ABBOTT looks at the perilous political cul-de-sac Labour finds itself in
WHEN Scottish Labour MSPs head back to work next week in Edinburgh, they might be forgiven for having a spring in their step, despite the best efforts of atrocious summer weather to put a damper on everything.
An opinion poll by Norstat for the Sunday Times on August 24 suggests that come the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026, it will be Labour and not the SNP that Scotland’s first minister will come from.
There now follows a flock of caveats. It is a long way to 2026, and the impact of both Westminster and Holyrood announcing a new age of austerity is as yet unclear. Furthermore, the Norstat polling numbers were very close.
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
Having endured 14 years of Tory austerity followed by Starmerite cuts, young voters are desperate for change — but Anas Sarwar’s refusal to differentiate from Westminster means Scottish Labour risks electoral catastrophe, writes LAUREN HARPER



