Comment

BACK when the minimum wage was introduced in 1999 - at the princely rate of £3.60 an hour - our beloved captains of industry suffered a collective attack of apoplexy, predicting untold numbers of job cuts and the imminent collapse of the British economy if employers were denied the "freedom" to pay their wage slaves 35p an hour.

IT'S A rogue south American state overseen by a leader linked to the international drugs trade.

WHEN the Tories start talking revolution, the alarm bell starts ringing.

ALL being well, Monday marks the relaunch of the Morning Star in Scotland on the day of publication for the first time in five years.

ISRAELI warplanes have killed 31 Palestinians in a 48-hour period, including 14 non-combatants, of whom eight are children, and yet the so-called international community says nothing.

THE government's double announcement of 12,000 job losses at the Department for Work and Pensions coupled with plans to hand over DWP functions to the private sector constitutes a devastating attack on working people.

IT'S an unfortunate fact that new Labour, when it wishes to be seen to be effective and decisive on any issue, turns with monotonous regularity to being oppressive, thoughtless and cheapskate.

TWO more scandals concerning greed and inefficiency from two former public companies and still the government just tinkers at the edges.

TRADE unionists with long memories may recall the 2004 ill-famed Warwick agreement that was supposed to show the benefits of union co-operation with Tony Blair's new Labour government.

THERE can be little doubt that former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett was right when she observed that someone was "out to get" parliamentary Speaker Michael Martin by telling "nasty little stories."