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
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Do Holyrood’s claims about a National Care Service add up?
Unlike our NHS, what is being proposed is only a commissioning service — care from the private or third sector. This has serious implications for accountability and creeping privatisation, warns JOHN STEVENSON
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
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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
COVID-19 exposed just how undervalued the adult care workforce is. Demoralised workers are leaving in droves. The recruitment crisis is so bad that the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) responsible for social care in Edinburgh has taken the unprecedented step of warning service users they might have to rely on family and friends for support. Other areas have issued similar warnings.
Action to bring dignity to the workforce and those who rely on it is therefore long overdue. That makes some aspects of the plans for a National Care Service (NCS) in Scotland very tempting.
The Feeley Report, which recommended the NCS for adult care, acutely identified the sector’s problems. Plans like ethical commissioning, sectoral collective bargaining and fine words about union recognition have rightly won trade union support. But, you might ask, could these not be implemented anyway — NCS or not?
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