Scotland - The Key?
Jeremy Corbyn is on a grand tour of Scotland, so I hear, and the purpose of his visit is to highlight a whole batch of SNP controlled Westminster seats that Labour needs to win to have a chance of forming a government at the next general election.
The hit list includes the following constituencies where Labour needs a swing of less than 1% to take the seat back from the SNP:
Glasgow South West
Glasgow East
Airdrie and Shotts
Lanark and Hamilton East
Motherwell and Wishaw
Inverclyde
Dunfermline and West Fife
Interestingly most of these constituencies lie within local councils which have a poor track record when it comes to equal pay.
Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Fife Councils fought 'tooth and nail' against people's equal pay claims in the courts for years - and the battle is still raging in Glasgow to this day.
So I can't in all honesty wish Labour well in this venture because local Labour councils and the local trade unions have been 'part of the problem' in achieving equal pay for the past 20 years.
Jeremy Corbyn to tour SNP-held constituencies
BBC Scotland politics
Image copyright - REUTERS Image caption - Mr Corbyn held a rally in Glasgow the day before May's general election
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to tour SNP-held constituencies in Scotland next month as he seeks to keep his party on an election footing.
Mr Corbyn will spend five days in Scotland, and aims to speak to thousands of voters in marginal seats.
The Labour leader remains hopeful the Tory government will collapse, sparking another election.
Labour believes 18 of the 64 seats it would need to win in order to secure a majority are in Scotland.
But an SNP spokesman said: "On Mr Corbyn's trip north, perhaps he can discuss all the policy differences with the head of his Scottish branch office - such as Trident renewal. That is, if they are on speaking terms."
SNP MSP James Dornan added: "Labour have learned nothing because rather than holding the Tories to account, they are still campaigning in Scotland against the SNP, which is odd given the majority of Corbyn's policies are already being delivered by a progressive SNP Scottish government.
"And no one in Scotland should be in any doubt - whether under Kezia Duglade or Corbyn - Labour are a party that backs an extreme Tory Brexit and policies like Trident renewal, against Scotland's national interests."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to tour SNP-held constituencies in Scotland next month as he seeks to keep his party on an election footing.
Mr Corbyn will spend five days in Scotland, and aims to speak to thousands of voters in marginal seats.
The Labour leader remains hopeful the Tory government will collapse, sparking another election.
Labour believes 18 of the 64 seats it would need to win in order to secure a majority are in Scotland.
But an SNP spokesman said: "On Mr Corbyn's trip north, perhaps he can discuss all the policy differences with the head of his Scottish branch office - such as Trident renewal. That is, if they are on speaking terms."
SNP MSP James Dornan added: "Labour have learned nothing because rather than holding the Tories to account, they are still campaigning in Scotland against the SNP, which is odd given the majority of Corbyn's policies are already being delivered by a progressive SNP Scottish government.
"And no one in Scotland should be in any doubt - whether under Kezia Duglade or Corbyn - Labour are a party that backs an extreme Tory Brexit and policies like Trident renewal, against Scotland's national interests."
Surpassed expectations
The SNP seats Labour is targeting include Glasgow South West; Glasgow East; Airdrie and Shotts; Lanark and Hamilton East; Motherwell and Wishaw; Inverclyde; and Dunfermline and West Fife, where swings of less than 1% are required for Labour to win.
A further 10 central belt constituencies would require swings of between 1.4% and 3.6%, while the Western Isles would take a swing of 3.4% to change hands.
The party already holds seven seats north of the border, after it surpassed expectations in last month's snap general election.
The SNP seats Labour is targeting include Glasgow South West; Glasgow East; Airdrie and Shotts; Lanark and Hamilton East; Motherwell and Wishaw; Inverclyde; and Dunfermline and West Fife, where swings of less than 1% are required for Labour to win.
A further 10 central belt constituencies would require swings of between 1.4% and 3.6%, while the Western Isles would take a swing of 3.4% to change hands.
The party already holds seven seats north of the border, after it surpassed expectations in last month's snap general election.
Image copyright - GETTY IMAGES Image caption - Mr Corbyn believes Labour can win up to 18 of the 35 Westminster seats currently held by the SNP
It held onto Ian Murray's Edinburgh South constituency, and won a further six seats held by the SNP.
Mr Corbyn said: "Labour remains on an election footing as a government-in-waiting, ready to end failed austerity and ensure that Scotland has the resources it needs to provide the public services its people deserve.
"Unlike the SNP and the Tories, Labour will transform our economy through investment, insisting that the true wealth creators - that means all of us - benefit from it.
"The only way to remove the Conservatives from Downing Street, and have a government that works for the many, not the few, is to back Labour in Scotland."
It held onto Ian Murray's Edinburgh South constituency, and won a further six seats held by the SNP.
Mr Corbyn said: "Labour remains on an election footing as a government-in-waiting, ready to end failed austerity and ensure that Scotland has the resources it needs to provide the public services its people deserve.
"Unlike the SNP and the Tories, Labour will transform our economy through investment, insisting that the true wealth creators - that means all of us - benefit from it.
"The only way to remove the Conservatives from Downing Street, and have a government that works for the many, not the few, is to back Labour in Scotland."
'Corbyn effect'
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Socialism - a left-leaning group within Scottish Labour - has called for the party to embrace Mr Corbyn's message north of the border.
It claims that Kezia Dugdale's leadership of Scottish Labour held back the UK-wide Labour effort in last month's election, stifling the so-called "Corbyn effect" in Scotland.
During the campaign, Ms Dugdale insisted she had faith in Mr Corbyn, despite backing Owen Smith during last year's leadership challenge.
A Campaign for Socialism spokesman said: "In Scotland we looked more like Jim Murphy's Labour Party than Jeremy Corbyn's - and that isn't a good look.
"We need to change - but that's more about changing emphasis than leadership.
"Jeremy has put Labour on the path to government across the UK because 'for the many, not the few' is a message that resonates. It's one that Scottish Labour needs to send."
Ms Dugdale has been running her own summer campaign in Scotland under the banner "for the many" - a slogan aligned with UK Labour's own key election message.
She said: "The Labour Party is growing, with more members signing up every day. We continue to offer hope with our radical policies to transform Scotland as part of our pro-UK, anti-austerity message.
"I look forward to joining Jeremy in August as we take our message to the people of Scotland."
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Socialism - a left-leaning group within Scottish Labour - has called for the party to embrace Mr Corbyn's message north of the border.
It claims that Kezia Dugdale's leadership of Scottish Labour held back the UK-wide Labour effort in last month's election, stifling the so-called "Corbyn effect" in Scotland.
During the campaign, Ms Dugdale insisted she had faith in Mr Corbyn, despite backing Owen Smith during last year's leadership challenge.
A Campaign for Socialism spokesman said: "In Scotland we looked more like Jim Murphy's Labour Party than Jeremy Corbyn's - and that isn't a good look.
"We need to change - but that's more about changing emphasis than leadership.
"Jeremy has put Labour on the path to government across the UK because 'for the many, not the few' is a message that resonates. It's one that Scottish Labour needs to send."
Ms Dugdale has been running her own summer campaign in Scotland under the banner "for the many" - a slogan aligned with UK Labour's own key election message.
She said: "The Labour Party is growing, with more members signing up every day. We continue to offer hope with our radical policies to transform Scotland as part of our pro-UK, anti-austerity message.
"I look forward to joining Jeremy in August as we take our message to the people of Scotland."
Part of the Problem (12/01/17)
I came across a Twitter post by Owen Jones the other day, a well known left-wing political commentator who writes regularly for The Guardian.
Owen welcomed the Labour leader's recent remarks about tackling the 'wage gap' so I had to point out that Jeremy (and people like him) have been posted missing during the 20 year fight for equal pay in Scotland's councils.
In fact, Jeremy & Co have been part of the problem.
For example, in Labour-run councils like North Lanarkshire and in areas such as South Lanarkshire where local 'leftist' union leaders (who support Jeremy) actively encouraged their members not to pursue equal pay claims against their local Labour-run council.
So excuse me for deciding not to become a member of the Jeremy Corbyn fan club.
- @OwenJones84 Leftist dilettantes like Jeremy Corbyn have been posted missing during the 12 year fight for equal pay in Scotland's councils
Mark Irvine
@OwenJones84 The fight for equal pay in Scotland's councils - Jeremy Corbyn et al have been part of the problem:…tion4equalityscotland.blogspot.com.es/2017/01/the-fi…
Owen Jones
We're long overdue a debate about how we tackle the grotesque gap in pay between working people and bosses - at least one is now happening 
The Fight for Equal Pay (06/01/17)
I've been inspired by a recent Twitter conversation to dig into the blog site archive and revisit the key landmarks in the fight for equal pay in Scotland's local councils.
- The background to Equal Pay lies in the early 1990s when the big public sector trade unions (GMB, NUPE and TGWU) set out to negotiate a set of common conditions of service for all UK local government workers - with a new 'Single Status' Agreement.
- The goal of the trade unions was shared, in principle, by the UK employers and this was to end the widespread pay discrimination against low paid, predominantly female, council employees - in caring, cleaning, catering and school support jobs.
- The unions warned the employers that if negotiations failed to deliver equal pay, then they would seek to achieve their aims via the courts, since it was obvious to everyone that the employers could not justify a Home Carer being paid the equivalent of only £6.00 an hour while a Refuse Collector was earning £9.00 per hour.
- At the time Mark Irvine was the Head of Local Government for Unison in Scotland and a key figure in the UK and Scottish negotiations which led to a UK wide agreement in 1997 that, subsequently, became the Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement in Scotland in 1999.
- Stefan Cross (now a QC) was then a leading employment lawyer with Thompsons Solicitors and fought his first major equal pay case as far back as 1995 before setting up a practice of his own, initially based in Newcastle.
- The trade unions and employers were both alarmed at this development, as they had completely failed to implement the landmark UK and Scottish Single Status agreements, despite all their fine words about tackling discrimination and delivering equal pay for work of equal value.
- Stefan Cross and Mark Irvine met in Newcastle in March 2005 to discuss reviving the fight for equal pay north of the border. In August 2005 Action 4 Equality Scotland was launched in a fanfare of publicity, courtesy of a major BBC Scotland news programme (see post below dated 28 May 2016 along with the original BBC web site report from 2005).
- All of the Scottish papers followed the story up and after years in the doldrums Equal Pay was front page news once again: Stefan Cross and Stefan Cross Solicitors provided the legal expertise and representation in the Employment Tribunals; Mark Irvine and A4ES became the campaign vehicle to get a message across to potential claimants and the wider public.
- Glasgow was the first council to be targeted (as the largest in Scotland) and after a few months of posturing and insisting that the City had no equal pay problem, the Council sounded a hasty retreat. By Christmas Glasgow was offering derisory sums of cash to 'buy out' people's claims.
- Lots of workers succumbed to the temptation, given the Council's 'bullying' tactics and the time of year. The workforce also lacked support from their own Labour-supporting trade unions who had failed to tackle the issue for years, even though all the big councils were Labour controlled, as was COSLA, of course, the self-styled voice of Scottish local government.
- Glasgow reached an 'interim' settlement of claims with A4ES up to 31 March 2006, but not for the period from 1 April 2006 onwards when the Council introduced new local pay arrangements and a new job evaluation scheme (JES).
- The hard work of extending the equal pay campaign across Scotland had begun and within two years A4ES was leading the charge in many other councils as well including Edinburgh, Fife, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Falkirk, North Ayrshire and so on.
- I began writing my blog in January 2007 and restricted myself, initially, to news and reports about the ongoing campaign, but over the years the blog 'grew like 'Topsy' and evolved into something that I enjoy writing for many other reasons as well.
- Towards the end of 2008 Carol Fox joined Stefan Cross Solicitors (see post below dated 15 October 2008) and assumed responsibility for the day-to-day legal cases in Scotland.
- Carol played a key role in the ongoing work in the Employment Tribunals, for example in the successful case against South Lanarkshire Council (SLC). A talented and very feisty woman barrister named Sandhya Drew presented the A4ES case and the long-running tribunal eventually found in the claimants favour.
- Meanwhile the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC) got involved after Labour-run South Lanarkshire refused an freedom of information (FoI) request from Mark Irvine. SLC appealed a SIC ruling (in Mark Irvine's favour) requiring the Council to publish information relating to the pay differences between traditional male and female jobs.
- After losing its appeal case to a unanimous judgement at the UK Supreme Court in London, SLC 'sued for peace' and settlements quickly followed for or over 3,000 A4ES clients. The local unions in South Lanarkshire looked ridiculous, by the way, having previously discouraged their members from pursuing equal pay claims against the local Labour-run Council.
- Another person that must be mentioned in dispatches, of course, is the indomitable Daphne Romney QC who drove a veritable 'coach and horses' through the pay arrangements that North Lanarkshire Council had introduced in 2007, with the Labour supporting union again playing a very negative role.
- Again thousands of low paid, predominantly women workers, were properly compensated after years of unequal pay and having the wool pulled over their eyes by their employers and trade unions.
- Carol Fox decided to step back from the fray in the summer of 2015, for personal and family reasons, and since then A4ES has worked with another firm of solicitors HBJ Gateley to provide clients with first class legal support (see post below dated 6 September 2015).
- Ironically, after all this time has passed things have come full circle again as the equal pay campaign focuses on Labour-run Glasgow, as the only major council in Scotland not to have reached a settlement with A4ES over its post-job evaluation pay arrangements.
But A4ES, Stefan Cross and Mark Irvine have all been involved from the start - over 20 years ago - and we are determined to see this fight through to the end.
