WEST Dunbartonshire does not of course live in a vacuum, British and world events impact locally. Hence no apology for discussing such happenings in a local newspaper as they affect us all.

Firstly the General Election.

Trade union activists will be elated to see the back of 14 years of Tory class war against working people. However, talk of a “landslide” for Labour that we are hearing in the mainstream media is nonsense, as is claims by Keir Starmer that it gives him a strong mandate. The parliamentary arithmetic which gave Labour such a massive majority was based on the corrupt first-past-the-post system.

Labour received 33% of the vote and only one in five voted Labour, with 40% of the electorate not bothering at all or not inspired by what was on offer.

Labour, which is meant to be the political arm of the trade union movement, won because of the split in the right-wing vote with far-right Reform UK worryingly gaining significant support. In Scotland, it had more to do with the collapse in the SNP vote.

The King’s speech (in which Labour set out its Bills and priorities) was welcomed in the main by trade union leaders though some were more positive than others about its content.

Activists will welcome the modest shift in favour of workplace rights.

Sick pay, parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal applying from day one is good as is giving all employees the right to a contract reflecting the number of hours they work regularly and the banning of ‘exploitative’ zero-hour contracts.

Repeal of some anti-union laws is welcome but they could have gone much further eg repealing ballot thresholds and the Tories 2016 Trade Union Act.

Partial public ownership of the railways is a start as is the Better Bus Bill, but we are still stuck with the undemocratic House of Lords.

Privatisation and fragmentation have wrought havoc in a number of sectors, not least the NHS, whose supply chain is a profiteers’ gravy train. This growing reliance on private provision is costly and self-defeating, yet Labour wants more of the same.

The two-child cap, the cause of massive child poverty, remains as does the commitment to the Military Industrial Complex where money does not seem a problem. The scandal of continuing arms sales to Israel is just that - a scandal given the genocide taking place in Palestine.

What is missing is a real commitment to the distribution of wealth and power, with almost total reliance on market forces to produce the economic growth that Starmer places at the centre of his Government.

In essence, Labour’s ‘landslide’ Commons majority is built on sand. Its low vote share makes it open to extra-parliamentary pressures. Big business never ceases using this route as must the trade union movement. Any positive Labour commitments must be seen as the very minimum, a base to build and campaign on, locally, nationally, and internationally.

One final point of concern.

During the General Election campaign union activists were sharing instances across the country where Labour candidates were refusing to attend local hustings meetings. This is a concern for the activists given many unions are affiliated with Labour giving them substantial sums.

We had a similar experience in the recent Clydebank Central local by-election when Clydebank TUC organised a hustings to enhance the democratic process. All candidates were invited but nothing was heard from the Lib Dems. The Conservatives could not field their candidate or a substitute. Labour’s candidate initially was to attend but had to call off and no substitute could be found from the ruling administration.

Not surprisingly, comments were made at the packed hustings meeting that these parties were ‘feart’ to face their electorate. A further setback for democracy was the fact that the turnout for this contest was a farcical 24.3%.

These people affect our daily lives and we must make them transparent and accountable.