Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
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Constitutions and socialist change
Talk in Scotland about a potential written constitution if independence is achieved should remind the left that this is something we too should be fighting for, writes PAULINE BRYAN
First Minister Humza Yousaf at the launch of the latest Building a New Scotland prospectus paper, which details plans for a new written constitution to be created by people in Scotland, at Atlantic Quay, Glasgow. Picture date: Monday June 19, 2023
While working people face austerity, arms companies enjoy massive government contracts, writes ARTHUR WEST, exposing how politicians exaggerate the Russian threat to justify spending on a sector that has the lowest employment multiplier
ANYA COOK reports from the Newcastle citizens’ assembly, where over 240 people gathered to create a people’s manifesto ahead of next year’s local elections – part of former mayor Jamie Driscoll’s Majority movement
While claiming to target fraud, Labour’s snooping Bill strips benefit recipients of privacy rights and presumption of innocence, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning that algorithms with up to 25 per cent error rates could wrongfully investigate and harass millions of vulnerable people
Real security comes from having a secure base at home — Keir Starmer’s reckless and renegade decision to get Britain deeper into the proxy war against Russia is as dangerous as it is wasteful, writes SALLY SPIERS
The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS
ALAN SIMPSON warns that Starmer’s triangulation strategy will fail just as New Labour’s did, with each rightward move by Labour pushing Tories further right
THE constitution is firmly back on the agenda in Scotland following the SNP convention in Dundee last week, which was called to discuss the way forward on independence.
Although no votes were taken, the SNP leader Humza Yousaf seems to have won the day with a commitment that if the SNP wins a majority of seats in the next general election in Scotland, then it would seek negotiations with the Westminster government on how to “give democratic effect” to the country becoming independent.
For Yousaf, that remains a referendum. His speech, designed for party activist consumption, still has the SNP going it alone, leading Scotland to independence on a new constitution as yet to be agreed upon.
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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
There is little benefit coming to Scotland or the wider UK from projects like Rosebank or Jackdaw – or indeed renewables – as profits are siphoned out of the country by foreign companies, writes PAULINE BRYAN
Unwanted, imposed Tory interventions on Scotland fuelled demands for devolution, and today Labour risks repeating past mistakes if Ian Murray seeks to bypass Holyrood on spending, warns PAULINE BRYAN
With a lack of radical thinking from the Starmer-led UK government, support for Scottish independence is unlikely to evaporate any time soon – spelling trouble ahead for Anas Sarwar, argues PAULINE BRYAN
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With a lack of radical thinking from the Starmer-led UK government, support for Scottish independence is unlikely to evaporate any time soon – spelling trouble ahead for Anas Sarwar, argues PAULINE BRYAN
It is impossible to ignore the huge flaws in our unelected second chamber — yet despite Labour’s promises of consultation, PAULINE BRYAN argues that it is falling short of doing what’s needed to safeguard democracy
After Scottish Labour’s success in the polls, VINCE MILLS calls for bold devolution of immigration and borrowing powers to tackle Scotland’s economic challenges — and outflank the SNP
STEPHEN LOW looks at an election in Scotland that, for the first time in a decade, wasn’t a fight about flags