It is 400 days since the Hamas attack on Israel, killing hundreds with hundreds more taken as hostage. “A day when the world united in grief for those innocent Israelis who lost their life.”
The Budget was a start. A good start. In fact, the STUC went as far to say it was impressive and eye-opening and puts investment into our public services front and centre.
Here’s an opening line for some detractors who accuse me and the wider trade union movement as being cheerleaders for the Labour UK Government: the First Minister was right.
We have left the Scottish Government in no doubt that, should it continue on the path of past mistakes in building its new care service, it certainly will not have been done in our name nor with our support.
Last week, the Labour UK Government published their long-awaited Employment Rights Bill. It’s the legislative manifestation, or at least part of it, of the New Deal for Working People they’ve heralded for years.
Last week, finally, legislation came into force to ensure that employers in the hospitality sector are legally obligated to pass on all tips to staff. Good news of course, though it is staggering that it took so long for this ridiculous stage of affairs to be rectified. Previously employers were compelled to pass on cash tips, however tips made through card payments – increasingly the dominant form of payment – could be retained by companies going into the pockets of bosses or as deductions for breakages or “dine and dash” incidents.
THE Labour Party and the wider Labour movement had waited 15 years for this moment. Last Tuesday, a Labour Prime Minister took to his feet to address his own conference.
Towns and villages across Scotland are tinged with poignant remnants of the past.
The towers will fall silent. The humming will cease. Where once a billowing tower of smoke dominated the Forth Valley skyline, there will be a desolate eeriness.
Let me say at the outset that governments can’t be all things to all people, nor should anyone envy the financial position in which the Cabinet Secretary finds herself. Whether you believe the public spending constraints being enacted by the UK Government are necessary or not, it is not credible to suggest, as many in the Scottish Parliament seem to be implying, that they do not have an impact on our budgets here.
