Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE

SOLIDARITY was not in short supply when British McDonalds workers staged their first ever strike last autumn, but few could match the display of commitment shown by the Glasgow-based young trade unionists who rose at dawn to board a coach to the capital, attending the strike rally at Parliament Square before returning to Scotland the same day.
It should be no surprise, therefore, that it’s a Scottish group — Better Than Zero (often branded as >ZERO) — which is at the forefront of the fight for precarious workers’ rights.
Campaign organiser Claire Galloway, herself a member of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, says fast food workers have been a key priority. “Over the past six months, we’ve been working with those in precarious workplaces, particularly fast food branches — McDonalds and KFC.”

CONRAD LANDIN offers a guide to the diverse shows at Edinburgh Art Festival