Both Conservative and Labour administrations have now refused to release research showing PIP payments are vital for disabled people’s survival, exposing the ideological nature of planned welfare ‘reforms,’ writes Dr DYLAN MURPHY
A wake-up call for the trade union movement
The Sandie Peggie v NHS Fife tribunal shows unions need to get up to speed with where the law stands on the requirement for workplaces to provide single-sex spaces, writes JANE McLENACHAN
Western media dismisses the National People’s Congress while ignoring its extensive consultation processes, massive public participation mechanisms, and a tiered structure involving millions of deputies, explains JENNY CLEGG
Despite caring for vulnerable children and often covering classes, support staff remain undervalued, with some earning less than supermarket workers — but GMB’s campaigning offers new hope, argues DONNA SPICER
NICK WRIGHT examines how Farage’s party has attracted five distinct voter tribes with incompatible views on economics, immigration and state intervention — presenting both a challenge and opportunity for left organising
Man-made canals like Panama and Suez face unprecedented challenges from extreme weather patterns and geopolitical tensions that reveal the fragility of our global trade networks, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
As climate change makes vast mineral deposits accessible, the island’s 56,000 residents face unprecedented pressure from Trump’s territorial ambitions while struggling to maintain their traditional way of life, writes JOHN GREEN
Student Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and threatened deportation are terrifying — but the moribund Democrats are still failing to mount any meaningful resistance against the slide toward autocracy, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
EMPLOYMENT tribunals rarely create waves. But the case of Mrs S Peggie v NHS Fife and Dr Upton is holding both political parties and public bodies to account while forcing a reality check on the trade union movement.
Sandie Peggie’s claim against NHS Fife is for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation. A nurse with 30 years’ service, she objected to sharing a female changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy with a male doctor who identifies as a woman. Her employer’s policy meant her single-sex changing room was now mixed sex.
She raised her concerns with her line manager before an incident one night when she expressed her discomfort directly to Dr Upton. He complained, resulting in her investigation for misconduct and suspension. The class power dynamic of the situation is difficult to overlook.
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