Seventeen years after losing her council job due to needing endometriosis surgery, Michelle Dewar’s campaign for paid menstrual leave gained 50,000 signatures in a week, reports ELIZABETH SHORT

IT looks like the Scottish and UK governments will end up in the Supreme Court arguing for their different interpretations of how post-EU cross-border policies should be handled.
The UK government wants to retain powers to deal with cross-UK policies in 24 areas that were designated as devolved in the 1998 Scotland Act.
The UK government would seek Holyrood’s consent and if it isn’t given within 40 days the UK government will “not normally” proceed, but could, with the agreement of the House of Commons and the Lords, overrule the Scottish Parliament.

From the ‘marketisation’ of care services to the closure of cultural venues and criminalisation of youth, a new Red Paper reveals how austerity has weakened communities and disproportionately harmed the most vulnerable, write PAULINE BRYAN and VINCE MILLS


