Absolutely delighted to have been shortlisted for one of the annual LGIU awards. The work of backbench councillors is often undervalued and overlooked so this is important recognition for the work done by all of us on the bckbenches. lgiu.org/events/cllr-...

Clearly moves are afoot by the carpetbaggers and careerists at the heart of Starmer’s government to roll back on the Employment Rights Bill. The upcoming Deputy Leadership election is a do or die moment for the Labour Left and everyone who wants a Labour Party worthy of its name

📚 Hi there, #Edinburgh! We've finally joined the Blueskyverse. If you don't know us, we're in Leith and we're open 7 days a week 10-4pm - and until 7pm on Thursdays! Come browse (and ideally buy) our books.

🚨 RIGHT NOW opposite Labour Party HQ in London. We’ve turned their street into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. A genocide is happening, but the Labour government is supplying weapons, intelligence and diplomatic cover to the perpetrator. Protesting this is not terrorism.

This is incredible: using the same MO, retailer after retailer opens in the same few premium locations, selling the exact same products, then does a runner, leaving tax unpaid - and no one is responsible, certainly not the billionaire landlord who keeps getting so unlucky with his tenants.

The Birmingham bin strike has descended to a war of words almost as toxic as the piles of rat-infested rubbish residents have been facing in parts of the city. But in the end the strike comes down to stories like Adrian's. www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

The whip is no longer an instrument of collective responsibility, it is a shield for the unprincipled and the cowardly. Never has Labour policy been so far from the needs of the poor and vulnerable. Solidarity with Brian and those currently suspended for standing up for their constituent.

It would be unwise for the LP to underestimate the significance of the decision taken by an overwhelming majority of UNITE delegates. It has been a long time coming and too many MPs/MPs/Cllrs take affiliated unions’ support for granted. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

It would be unwise for the LP to underestimate the significance of the decision taken by an overwhelming majority of UNITE delegates. It has been a long time coming and too many MPs/MPs/Cllrs take affiliated unions’ support for granted. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

🚨 For the third year in a row, our data shows that HUNDREDS of child refugees, who come to the UK alone, are continuing to be incorrectly treated as adults after a visual assessment of age at the border. They are placed with strangers in adult accommodation & even adult prisons. 1/2

Universal Credit and (no longer!) PIP Bill goes to a final vote today. Here's our @trusselluk.bsky.social joint briefing with 20 other organisations setting out final analysis of the Bill & priorities for further amendments: www.ucpipbill.co.uk

In August, if you’re taking advantage of the festival season in the centre of town, be sure to stop by our temporary exhibition space at the St James Quarter!

As I said earlier today, breaking the whip isn’t easy. But there are times when as a socialist you must take a stand and today @tracygilbertmp.bsky.social did that, one of only 4 Labour MPs in Scotland to vote against the governments punitive cuts. Well done Tracy. Solidarity✊

What a shambles in the Commons - this is a defining moment for the Labour right’s project to crush Party democracy, rig selections, try to gut the PLP of critical voices and those with political backbone. While disabled people are terrified for their livelihood. Shameful.

It isn’t easy to break the whip but every Labour MP who votes against making the lives of disabled people and their carers worse today is doing the right thing. The Party whip system is outdated, enables bullies and does nothing to improve representation.Politics needs to change.

A tight result, Labour did well but it is clear that only one political party is benefiting from the political arrangement on the council. LibDems have won 3/4 of by-elections since 2022. They win votes from Labour and Conservatives and both parties would be unwise to ignore.

Creating a 2-tier benefit system which penalises future applications without addressing the lack of impact assessment and other criticisms if proposals does not make this legislation fit for purpose and using those people and their carers as bargaining chips to win a vote is wrong.

This Thursday the Independent Review to the Council’s Handling of Allegations of Misconduct or Dunion Report will be discussed at Full Council. A few people have been commenting on this and reading their comments I am not sure they have read the report in its entirety. 1/3

Our medical staff are donating their own blood to provide life-saving treatment for patients in #Gaza. Patients that were gunned down while trying to get food. Food for their families. Food to live. We need an immediate #ceasefire, now.

Promoters who profit from the privatisation of Edinburgh city centre writing reports on how much Edinburgh benefits and naive politicians fall for it. But residents feel more and more excluded from the disneyfied version of Christmas and Hogmanay. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Echoing the issues we are already facing with ScotRail, we need public ownership with public control and run in the public interest.

Remembering the Gretna Disaster 110 years on. theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/05/gret...

Edinburgh World Heritage Site!! And to make matters worse the Council doesn’t even have the capacity to build this wooden box - even this was done by outside contractors.

My favourite view of the Parliament. I appreciate not everyone is a fan but I love Miralles’ courage and imagination to create a Building which reflects so much of our aspirations for our devolved parliament. Whether those have been realised is of course another question.

I lived in Rome when Benedict was elected and people were running through the streets when the smoke turned white, so we headed to St Peter’s. He wasn’t my favourite pick by far but seeing Habemus Papam and cardinals jostling for a balcony space was quite a thing.

On #VEDay TSSA honour the vital role railway workers played during WWII by keeping the country moving, transporting troops and supplies, and maintaining critical infrastructure under immense pressure and danger. Their courage, resilience, and service were essential to the war efforts.

MPs quoted in this article are not doing so publicly and that is key to Labour’s problems. A culture of acquiescence for those who want political careers has allowed those at the top to take Labour in the wrong direction and to allow Reform wins. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The 4 votes in Runcorn could well have been former Labour voters disgusted by dog-whistling anti-immigration narratives and austerity policies directed at the elderly and disabled. If Labour continues to take left-leaning voters for granted the result will be disastrous.

Investing in the HSE is an investment in a healthy, productive workforce and a stronger economy. www.tssa.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Steel is a core industry and vital to Britain’s railways, not least on tracks up and down the network. British Steel is a crucial national assent and must not be at the mercy of private or overseas interests. www.tssa.org.uk/news-and-eve...

It feels pertinent to remind folk what can make someone unfit for public office - it may involve criminal actions or can be a matter of ethical standards and not necessarily a police matter, Both are very serious. standardscommissionscotland.org.uk

🔴 Who Runs Scotland? The Ferret analysed hundreds of records from the Holyrood lobbying register via @transparencyuk.bsky.social' s Open Access tool as part one of our month long member-funded investigation. Check out the results. ⬇️ theferret.scot/lobby...

I have had it with the level of abuse bus drivers are putting up with in Edinburgh, hardly a day passes without some idiot getting aggressive - it was good to not be alone today when intervening with two dafties who were swearing at and being aggressive to the driver.

📽️Join us for a free Community Cinema screening of The Old Oak 📅22nd April 2025 🕙1:00pm-4:00pm 📌Norton Park Conference Centre, 57 Albion Road, Edinburgh, EH7 5QY 🎟️Book your place here: www.eventbrite.com/e/community-...

There is too much in this astounding display of political and economic incoherence to deal with in a single post, Scotland knows well the difference between real investment and rapacious extraction, markets are crashing and workers’ rights are being trashed in the US by Trump.

There is too much in this astounding display of political and economic incoherence to deal with in a single post, Scotland knows well the difference between real investment and rapacious extraction, markets are crashing and workers’ rights are being trashed in the US by Trump.

There is outrage but we obviously are not being loud enough.

@eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu @kajakallas.bsky.social While bodies of paramedics and rescue workers, executed one by one by Israel's occupation forces, were being dug from a mass grave, Netanyahu was meeting Greek PM Mitsotakis & preparing to visit Hungary. www.instagram.com/reel/DH4SeEe...

We took over the giant screen at Farage’s big rally in Birmingham

We have truly entered the Age of Onanocracy*. (*Government by w#nkers)

Walter Tull died on 25th March 1918, aged 30, in battle near Pas de Calais

When I read “builders not blockers” I don’t see progress - the planning process is already tilted against the environment and quality of life of ordinary people - the real problems are the big infrastructure projects are in the hands of big business skimming profits.

Torsten Bell’s Newsnight appearance was shameful but he is just one of the many examples of what you get when you manipulate selection processes to parachute in the chosen technocrat. No principles, no fight and no heart.

I am angry that the, anti-poor, old and vulnerable policies of the UK government have driven Neil Findlay from the Labour Party, people like Neil from solid working class backgrounds are few and far between in Holyrood and Westminster, maybe that is the problem.

Saturday is UN Anti-racism day, a global day of action against racism & the far-right 🌍 Tomorrow (Tue, 5pm), we’ll be holding a reps' meeting on how we build antifascist work in the union 💪 You’re a TSSA rep who wants to get involved? Register by emailing [email protected]

Thanks to @stevewitherdenmp.bsky.social for his parliamentary motion highlighting our report on the abuse and harassment of transport workers – and what needs to be done about it 💪 It's time the violence stopped - ask your MP to sign the motion! ✍️ edm.parliament.uk/early-day-mo...

I was thinking if I had time to get stuck into a book today for #worldbookday it would be a tie between these two old favourites

Will the empty suits pandering to the bullies in the White House reflect on not being as smart negotiators as they thought they were.

Quite right to take a stand on this.