Stephen Smellie recounts the pressures and learning curve to become a health and safety expert I am not a frontline care worker, nurse or doctor. I am not even a key worker. I am a full-time seconded union branch secretary in a local authority. I have been involved in negotiations, disputes, strikes and political struggles. […]
Jim Sillars says it’s going to be nasty and brutish but the independence movement can and must survive Alex Salmond was cleared of serious sexual charges by a jury of eight women and five men. They saw and heard all the evidence against him, and watched and heard the accusers under cross-examination. In addition, they […]
Kenny MacAskill picks through the detritus of the trial of the century and finds some unpalatable truths The Alex Salmond case was entirely unprecedented. For sure there have been major Scottish criminal trials from Oscar Slater through Lockerbie to numerous recent ones. But despite the notoriety of many and the horror of their crimes, none […]
Pauline Bryan looks at the implications of the outcomes of Labour’s leadership elections How has Labour’s membership shifted so quickly to the right and picked Keir Starmer to replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader? Until recently an outside observer would have thought that the left had a solid hold on the party. Three hundred and fifty […]
As Sturgeon accepted there’ll be no 2020 indyref2, Joe Middleton assesses the complicated terrain Brexit has happened and Britain has left the European Union dragging Scotland along with it, despite our overwhelming vote to remain. We still do not know what this will actually mean economically but it does mean that circumstances have changed for […]
Grahame Smith reflects on some tumultuous times as he bows out from leading the STUC Writing a reflection on over thirty-four years working at an institution such as the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC), including fourteen as its the General Secretary, is a significant challenge. It is a task I embark on with a high […]
Bob Thomson recalls the life and work of ‘Bick’ following the launch of a website about his life and work ‘The true basis for any caring society must be public services provided from the public purse, staffed by men and women properly trained and decently paid.’ Rodney Bickerstaffe This website – https://rodneybickerstaffe.org.uk/ – celebrates the […]
Neil Findlay proposes a way forward for Scottish Labour on its constitutional crisis Labour cannot ignore or wish away constitutional realities a second longer. Issues of democracy, accountability, independence, devolution and regional and national identity are – whether we like it or not- the issues that dominate the Scottish and increasingly, the British, political landscape. […]
Stephen Smellie lay out the critical questions the left needs to be asking of the independence option A second independence referendum will take place. Maybe not this year or even next but it will take place. With current opinion polls now giving independence a small majority, there is a strong possibility that the referendum will […]
Kenny MacAskill offers a welcoming hand to those now seeing independence as a credible option Boris Johnson’s rejection of a Section 30 Order was hardly unexpected and the First Minister never possessed a Plan B as some hoped. So where now for the independence left? In many ways, rather than being seen as a set-back, […]