Morning Report – June 30th

Today’s big news is obviously the public sector strikes that are taking place across the country. Many schools are closed, and services provided by civil servants are running at much lower capacity – if they’re running at all. PCS head Mark Serwotka has set out the position of his union on the strikes today in the Guardian. The Daily Mail, in contrast, says that we must defy “union bullies“. In reality public opinion lies somewhere between these two poles.

However the public opinion might shift if the facts behind the public sector pension debate were more widely known. There’s an excellent post over at False Economy today that shows this isn’t a question of pensions at all – this is, pure and simple – a pay cut.

Meanwhile in Scotland there’s a crucial by-election for Scottish Labour (and Ed Miliband) in Inverclyde today. The seat, which is up for election after the tragic recent death of David Cairns, is normally concerned incredibly safe for Labour – and yet there is a concern that the rise of the SNP in Scotland could cause Labour to lose today. That would certainly be a shock to an already rattled Scottish party – but it would also leave Ed Miliband under pressure, if we’re losing safe seats in the heartlands. According to The Times(£), John Prescott campaigned in the constituency yesterday on behalf of candidate Iain McKenzie. Iain is a strong local candidate, and we wish him the best of luck – the result is in at around 2am, and we’ll be bringing you news from Incerclyde throughout the day.