Blundering to disasters
2 May 2015
This excellent book, recently updated, is a manual of policy-making and implementation. It analyses many of the most conspicuous policy disasters committed by governments in recent decades.
News/Views
Unsustainable policies
2 May 2015
This biography of the new SNP leader by David Torrance is well-informed and full of ideas. His is both appreciative and critical of his subject. His objectvity brings out the flaws in the SNP position.
Midwives and radiographers in first N. Ireland walkout
2 May 2015
Hundreds of members of the Royal College of Midwives and the Society of Radiographers struck for the first time ever in hospitals across Northern Ireland on 30 April as part of the public sector pay battle.
Children forced into Sikh free school
1 May 2015
Parents in Leeds have been shocked to discover that their local authority has allocated places to their children in a Sikh free school, despite their not having chosen the school.
'Worst attack in history' on further education as government cuts bite deep
29 April 2015
If the government continues with its planned cuts to the adult skills budget, by 2020 adult education and training in England will have ceased to exist.
A best-seller 167 years on
29 April 2015
Something interesting has occurred with the Bookseller list of current bestsellers. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels is a new entry into the top ten list of general paperbacks.
Unity needed – to stop the EU pulling us apart
The parliamentary parties are for saving capitalism and enhancing its profits. And the EU is the instrument designed for this…
Zero for us, subsidies for them
As capitalism continues its drive to reduce workers to utter penury and, worse, compliance in that drive, the number of workers on zero hours contracts has soared from 200,000 in 2010 to 1.8 million in 2015.
Politics and survival
By the time you read this, the election will probably have morphed into a grand negotiation about a coalition. This they call politics.
US backs down over Cuba
Every year workers throughout the world celebrate May Day. Forty years ago, it coincided with the liberation of South Vietnam. This year, May Day comes hot on the heels of the US’s massive climbdown over Cuba – brilliant news.
Something for nothing
With Scottish universities among the highest users of zero-hours contracts, it is fitting that the University and College Union (UCU) should hold its annual congress this May in Glasgow.
And the next generation?
The number of young people choosing to study science is actually rising, despite the fees. From 2007/8 to 2013/14: Physics up 16 per cent, Engineering and Technology up 15 per cent, Biological Sciences up 30 per cent.