The implosion of the British Left has been so thorough that you’re often compelled to give yourself a values health-check lest you fall into the clutches of Toryism and the Right. This is most distressingly evident in the culture wars that have convulsed the traditional forces of the Left. A superannuated class of salon opportunists has insinuated itself into the Labour Party, the trade unions, the SNP and the Greens and rendered them impotent.

They are all now likely to be found harassing and hounding working class people – especially women – than defending them. The sprawling managerial class which has taken root inside these organisations will, of course, point to some limited successes in standing up for the workers. But, as Sandie Peggie and thousands of other trade unionists have discovered, you must first ditch some of your sincerely-held beliefs before your trade union will agree to defend you.

The Sandie Peggie tribunal, currently playing out in Dundee has seen a procession of highly-paid but wantonly incompetent civic automatons embarrass themselves and the Scottish education system.

Each day, we can feast on a fresh flurry of statements that point to a strain of callous delinquency at the heart of our public bodies. There are hundreds more of these dismal Tamany Hall bureaucrats operating at every level of civic governance in Scotland. The fix is a simple one: pay them salaries well beyond their experience and ability so that they are yours forever to bend and manipulate........

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