After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
IN THE 16 years since I was elected, first as a councillor then MSP for the Lothian region, I have seen a steady and consistent growth in the numbers of people seeking help at my surgeries for mental health problems — and the nature of their problems appear to be ever more acute.
I am not a clinician, but you cannot help but observe reality when it is staring you directly in the face. I regularly see or hear from people doing their very best to keep their heads above water and their families together.
Some are in desperate need of help and don’t know where to turn — or have tried to get help but find it just isn’t there.
When privatisation is already so deeply embedded in the NHS, we can’t just blindly argue for ‘more funding’ to solve its problems, explain ESTHER GILES, NICO CSERGO, BRIAN GIBBONS and RATHI GUHADASAN



