Head of education, campaigns and organising for the General Federation of Trade Unions HENRY FOWLER explains why it is launching a fund to support trades councils and give them access to a new range of courses and resources
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Easter eggs trump child poverty in Scotland
From Labour MPs obsessing over Easter egg shapes to SNP ministers celebrating pay rises while marking zoo animals’ arrivals, Scottish politics is really deteriorating, says COLL McCAIL
Coins and Scottish bank notes
While working people face austerity, arms companies enjoy massive government contracts, writes ARTHUR WEST, exposing how politicians exaggerate the Russian threat to justify spending on a sector that has the lowest employment multiplier
ANYA COOK reports from the Newcastle citizens’ assembly, where over 240 people gathered to create a people’s manifesto ahead of next year’s local elections – part of former mayor Jamie Driscoll’s Majority movement
While claiming to target fraud, Labour’s snooping Bill strips benefit recipients of privacy rights and presumption of innocence, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE, warning that algorithms with up to 25 per cent error rates could wrongfully investigate and harass millions of vulnerable people
Real security comes from having a secure base at home — Keir Starmer’s reckless and renegade decision to get Britain deeper into the proxy war against Russia is as dangerous as it is wasteful, writes SALLY SPIERS
The plan is to stigmatise and destabilise South Africa in preparation for breaking it up while creating a confused and highly racialised atmosphere around immigration in the US to aid in denying rights to non-white refugees, explains EMILE SCHEPERS
ALAN SIMPSON warns that Starmer’s triangulation strategy will fail just as New Labour’s did, with each rightward move by Labour pushing Tories further right
AS a quarter of MSPs prepare to abandon Holyrood and AI-generated candidates emerge, the author exposes how both major parties have retreated into managerialism and triviality while the public faces real economic hardship.
Since their election last July, Scottish Labour’s 37 MPs have struggled to distinguish themselves from their southern colleagues. With the notable exception of Brian Leishman — whose ongoing struggle to save the Grangemouth oil refinery has won plaudits from across the political spectrum — the group has fallen into line behind Keir Starmer. Consistent opinion polls predict that most will lose their seats at the next election. By any measure, they are floundering.
Last month, Blair McDougall MP — the former Better Together campaign director — launched an attempt to correct this trajectory. His “Shrinkflation Labelling Bill” will make it illegal to sell “shrunken” Easter eggs without warning shoppers.
More from this author
COLL McCAIL rejects the Scottish Establishment’s attempt at an ‘elite lockout’ of Reform UK and says the unions should be wary of co-option by their class enemies in Holyrood just to keep one set of austerity-mongers in power instead of Reform UK
COLL MCCAIL reveals how party members rebelled against the current leadership’s attempts to block democratic debate on opposing SNP budget cuts at their Greenock conference
The British government actively supports Israel’s escalating violence across the Middle East through arms sales, military assistance, and diplomatic cover, writes COLL McCAIL
The independence referendum’s youthful energy has dissipated, leaving Holyrood disconnected from voters as the constitutional question fades and Labour gains ground from a stagnant SNP, writes COLL MCCAIL
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From bemoaning London’s ‘cockneys’ invading seaside towns to negotiating holiday rents, the founders of scientific socialism maintained a wry detachment from Victorian Easter customs while using the break for health and politics, writes KEITH FLETT
COLL MCCAIL reveals how party members rebelled against the current leadership’s attempts to block democratic debate on opposing SNP budget cuts at their Greenock conference
Under Starmer and Sarwar, both the UK and Scottish Labour Parties are committed to the dogmas of neoliberalism – although signs are that resistance is growing, argues VINCE MILLS
The independence referendum’s youthful energy has dissipated, leaving Holyrood disconnected from voters as the constitutional question fades and Labour gains ground from a stagnant SNP, writes COLL MCCAIL