Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
Never mind the cuts; where’s the funding?
GORDON MUNRO writes on the SNP's war on local government
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
BETWEEN 2011 to 2017 the SNP Scottish government cut funding to Scottish councils by 3.7 per cent, taking a whopping £1 billion from council budgets and in turn public services.
This is despite the fact that last year Westminster gave the SNP Scottish government a revenue cash increase of 2.2 per cent — a capital cash increase of 10.3 per cent, plus it has additional borrowing powers of up to £450 million.
Despite this increase in income and powers, the Scottish government chose to cut funding to local government in Scotland by £350m.
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It is time to stop tolerating the governing elites incompetence which makes our lives a daily misery, argues MATT KERR
