KATY Clark heads bill for N Ayrshire

CLARK: Labour peer Katy Clark has been selected as a candidate in next year’s Holyrood elections. 

Party members chose the former North Ayrshire and Arran MP to contest the Cunninghame North constituency, which is currently held by the SNP’s Kenneth Gibson. 

After leaving the Commons in 2015, Ms Clark served as political secretary to Jeremy Corbyn, sought selection to be MP for Vauxhall and stood in last year’s European elections. 

EiS leader elected to top European role

FLANAGAN: The general secretary of Scotland’s largest teaching union has been elected as president of the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE).

Larry Flanagan of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) was elected this week to represent 132 education trade unions and over 11 million workers across the continent. 

Mr Flanagan, who described his election as an “honour,” will maintain his role with the EIS during his four-year term with the ETUCE.

Sharp rise in fuel poverty numbers

FUEL POVERTY: The number of households living in extreme fuel poverty in Scotland has risen by 32,000 in a year.

Figures from the Scottish House Conditions Survey show that 311,000 households were in extreme fuel poverty in 2019 compared with 279,000 in 2018.

Energy Action Scotland said it was “profoundly disappointed” with the figures which chief executive Frazer Scott branded “truly alarming.”

Campbell backs self government Bill

LOCAL AUTHORITIES: Councils in Scotland could be given extra protection from centralisation after the government indicated its support for a Bill to strengthen local democracy.

Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell has signalled support for MSP Andy Wightman’s European Charter of Local Self-Government (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which aims to provide basic freedoms for local government.

The Green MSP said it would give councils the power to “work in the interests of our communities.”