Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
The health crisis in Scotland’s heartland
In Lanarkshire and beyond, we find ourselves in the midst of a public health emergency of the government’s creation, while hardworking NHS staff are stuck between a rock and a hard place, argues DREW GILCHRIST
Our groundbreaking report reveals how private rail companies are bleeding millions from public coffers through exploitative leasing practices — but we have the solutions, writes Aslef Scottish organiser KEVIN LINDSAY
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT
This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The FBU is demanding 52 weeks of full pay for women firefighters, highlighting the unique health risks they face — and the continuing need to recruit and retain more women if policies like this are still not in place, writes SEONA HART
ONGOING and sustained attacks against the National Health Service are nothing new. Cuts, closures, long waits and poor services have become the daily reality for workers in Lanarkshire and across Scotland and the UK.
The devolution of health to the Scottish Parliament should in theory allow for us to better organise resources and attend to the needs of every Scottish health board with the interest of communities at their heart, as well as protect NHS Scotland from harsh Tory cuts and privatisation — as the idiom goes, “at least its not as bad as down south.”
In reality the opposite has been seen. The SNP continues to push forward with a failed policy of the centralisation of services, depriving both working-class and rural Highland communities of much-needed services. Be it GPs, radiography or cancer services, workers have been left with a postcode lottery of health services.
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KATE RAMSDEN calls out the SNP’s political choices, citing STUC research showing billions could be raised through progressive taxation to fund vital social work and care — instead, we’re being threatened with more cuts
