First Minister Alex Salmond faced a grilling in Dundee yesterday as he sought to woo Scotland’s trade unionists into backing independence.
The SNP leader got a mixed reception as he addressed a gathering of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, with answers sought on everything from tax to wages ahead of September’s historic referendum.
He promised there would be no disruption to occupational pension schemes and won murmurs of approval from the hall when asked whether his government would back continued public ownership of the London-to-Edinburgh East Coast Main Line and whether he could rule out compulsory redundancies in the civil service following a vote for independence.
Cuts are sweeping campuses as cash-strapped universities slash staff and politicians fail to act on a growing funding emergency. VINCE MILLS reports
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


