TUC general secretary PAUL NOWAK speaks to the Morning Star’s Berny Torre about the increasing frustration the trade union movement feels at a government that promised change, but has been too slow to bring it about

WITH a yet another round of cuts being visited on Scottish councils, it is essential that there is a discussion on the future of local government in Scotland.
From that point of view the report by the think tank, closely associated with Gordon Brown, Our Scottish Futures is welcome. The title Re-Wiring Scotland is more than a nod to Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, for ultimately the report adopts the contentious position that Scotland should legislate to allow a “metro mayor” system.
However there is a at least one point in the report that is not contentious at least across the left in Scotland, that is the need to decentralise power from the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood to local authorities.

On the release of her memoir that reveals everything except politics, Sturgeon’s endless media coverage has focused on her panic attacks, sexuality and personal tragedies while ignoring her government’s many failures, writes PAULINE BRYAN

From the ‘marketisation’ of care services to the closure of cultural venues and criminalisation of youth, a new Red Paper reveals how austerity has weakened communities and disproportionately harmed the most vulnerable, write PAULINE BRYAN and VINCE MILLS

