SOLOMON HUGHES recommends Sunjeev Sahota’s recent novel set in a trade union election campaign for its fresh approach to what unites and divides workers, but wishes the union backdrop was truer to life
Naomi Pohl
The current deputy general secretary Naomi Pohl has put her hat in the ring for the leadership of the Musicians Union (MU). This has been met with wide support from across the union, with backing from notable figures like Rab Noakes and the Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire.
Though referred to by some as the “continuity candidate,” Pohl is very firm in her assertion that she will bring a new vision to the union that aims to incorporate the skills and energy of members from the top of the EC down to the grassroots level.
In our discussion, she raised the need for leadership and union activism to go beyond mere committees, saying: “We need to look for ways in which this can be utilised, either through specific campaigns or new initiatives.”
Artists should not be consigned to a life of precarious working – they deserve dignity and proper workers’ rights, argues ZITA HOLBOURNE
ANN HENDERSON on the exciting programme planned for this summer’s festival in the Scottish capital
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore



