State machinery was widely employed to secure favourable outcomes in India’s recent regional elections against three progressive regional governments who dared to challenge Narendra Modi, asserts VIJAY PRASHAD
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National care service: social workers’ concerns
We were beginning to make progress on the challenges facing social workers that see so many leave the job only a few years after qualifying — instead the NCS Bill has taken things out of our hands once more, warns KATE RAMSDEN
It is too early to assume a US defeat in Iran — we must prepare for a long anti-war struggle, argues JOHN ROSS
ROGER McKENZIE says the ANC needs to respect South Africa’s Communists and their decision to stand independently at elections
KENNY MacASKILL remembers the woman who first translated The Communist Manifesto into English
The election offers a critical chance to shape the future of pay, care and community provision in Wales, says Unison’s JESS TURNER
As Scotland heads to the polls, the main parties offer variations on the same script, says MATT KERR
SOCIAL WORK in Scotland is facing another major upheaval. The national care service (NCS) consultation and subsequent Bill published in June, proposes the removal of social work from local authority control and its transfer to a National Social Work Agency, which will come under the purview of Scottish ministers.
Launched with almost no detail about why such drastic change is needed or what it will look like in practice, it will have the impact of depressing the morale of already demoralised social workers and will no doubt see even more of them leave a profession that is already under the cosh.
As a social worker for 42 years, I know first hand the key role that social work staff can play in the lives of the families and individuals they support. They are often among the most disadvantaged in our communities and their need for social work services is very often underpinned by poverty and deprivation.
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