A CROSS-PARTY group of council leaders has called on Health Secretary Matt Hancock to scrap privateers’ contracts in the coronavirus test-and trace-scheme.
The Labour, Green and Tory council leaders said that Mr Hancock should fund local public-health teams to run the system instead.
Three-quarters of the British public agree, with just 14 per cent saying they want it run privately, according to a poll conducted by Survation and commissioned by campaign group We Own It.
The new Scottish Parliament looks set to continue a cycle of managerial tinkering while public services face the axe, writes STEPHEN LOW
Years of underfunding are eroding Scotland’s local services and deepening inequality in communities, says VINCE MILLS
Politicians who continue to welcome contracts with US companies without considering the risks and consequences of total dependency in the years to come are undermining the raison d’etre of the NHS, argues Dr JOHN PUNTIS
Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT


