The UK Prime Minister may have the regal touch in northern England, but he’s been wrong-footed on the constitutional challenges posed by the Celtic Alliance of first ministers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, argues KENNY MacASKILL
THE Tories are becoming bolder in their attacks on the rights of trade union members, the right to strike and the general right to protest. It is vital for the future of this country and for ordinary people that these attacks are halted and reversed.
This Monday May 22 the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill comes back to the House of Commons. The TUC has called a protest outside Parliament for that evening. It deserves to be strongly supported.
The economic backdrop remains bleak. Even if double-digit inflation does fall back, prices will still be rising rapidly. The bulk of the population faces increasing misery for a long time to come. This is not an act of god or a product of unforeseeable events.
A sharp rise in public-sector investment is required to kick-start the economy, argues MICHAEL BURKE
The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE
If the government really wanted to address public finances, improve living standards and begin economic recovery, it would increase its borrowing for investment, argues MICHAEL BURKE


