PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE explains why opposing war is inseparable from defending jobs, wages and public services – and why readers should come to the London Peace Conference on Saturday June 20
SATURDAY saw what I hope is the start of building a mass campaign across Britain with trade unions, People’s Assembly groups and community campaigning organisations to call out the Tories and the cost of living crisis they created. Here in Scotland very quickly we went from one protest in Glasgow to events being held in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
In Glasgow, the event held jointly by the People’s Assembly Scotland and the STUC had just a week to organise and very dreich weather but the turnout was excellent. What was even better were the numbers of young people not just attending but on the platform speaking.
I was asked to speak and contribute a tune as the representative for the People’s Assembly Scotland. In the run up, when trying to compile my thoughts on what to say, I was reminded of the last crisis the Tories created that had launched the People’s Assembly Against Austerity movement. When I first heard Cameron, Clegg and Osborne tell us continually that “we are all in it together” I wrote a song for my band called “Don’t piss down my back (and tell me it’s raining)” which became the title of our second album.
Campaigns against nuclear weapons on the Clyde, financial backing for arms firms and rising militarism are converging with solidarity for Palestine, as Scotland’s peace movement builds momentum ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election, says ARTHUR WEST
ROZ FOYER explains the significance and tradition of today’s St Andrew’s Day March and Rally
Working-class women lead the fight for fair work and equitable pay and against sexual harassment, the rise of the far right and years of failed austerity policies, writes ROZ FOYER
The wealth of the super-rich grows by £35 million daily while our NHS and schools collapse — that’s why thousands of us will be gathering in London demanding that the billionaires foot the bill for the many crises they have caused, writes TYRONE SCOTT


