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Scotland editor
THE Scottish Greens have called on Scotland to end all cash grants and support for companies profiting from the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen.
Ministers have been urged to follow the US and commit to ending all financial support for the Saudi Arabian military’s bombing campaign on its neighbours.
The UK government has refused to curb arms sales itself, despite evidence of alleged war crimes committed by Saudi forces, including the bombing of hospitals and funerals.
But the Scottish government has been urged to take responsibility for its own hand in the attacks on Yemen, support and funding from Scottish Enterprise, a government agency.
Scotland editor
TRADE unions representing engineering workers in the North Sea have welcomed a “groundbreaking” new collective-bargaining agreement in the sector.
The establishment of the Energy Services Agreement has seen 13 firms confirming that they are willing to sign up, with thousands of RMT, Unite and GMB members covered.
The collective agreement, which has reportedly been in the works for more than a year, was hailed as “groundbreaking” today by unions, which urged their members to support the move.
With offshore contractors now involved, for the first time a majority of companies across the sector will now be covered.
In a statement the unions said: “We hope the deal will go some way towards avoiding the boom-and-bust cycles which have caused extreme difficulties for workers and employers alike over the last decade.
Scotland editor
THE Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has said Labour’s position on a second independence referendum is “confused at best,” reiterating the need to break Scotland’s “constitutional logjam.”
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer called for debate in good faith about options for Scotland’s future, rebuking what she said was the party’s dismissive attitude towards both federalism and any second referendum.
Ms Foyer underlined the importance of the upcoming Scottish elections and said it was key that any debate on the constitution should “open enough space to explore alternative plans for independence and alternative proposals for devolution.”
Scotland editor
THE Scottish government should focus on the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine and economic recovery instead of independence, opposition MSPs said in a Holyrood debate today.
It came after the SNP unveiled its “road map” to another independence poll at the weekend.
During the debate, brought by the Tories, an amended motion was proposed by Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon calling for the introduction of a 24-hour vaccination programme.
Ms Lennon’s amendment supported the motion’s proposition that “planning an independence referendum in 2021, during an ongoing global pandemic, would be reckless and damaging.”
Labour also urged the government to set out an exit strategy from lockdown which can “effectively suppress the virus in the long-term.”