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Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray will address his party’s annual conference in Oban

In his remarks in the agenda for the 2010 Scottish Labour conference, Iain Gray opens with a typically simple and straightforward statement:

“We must win the Scottish Parliament elections next May.”

With the party’s defeat at Westminster and at Holyrood in 2007, Labour found itself out of power north and south of the border.

But the UK election wasn’t a total disaster in Scotland, where Labour managed to hold on to all its seats, plus regain the ones it lost in by-elections during the previous parliament.

It is this achievement which seems to have kept the party going, rather than being struck down by election fatigue.

And, with the Holyrood election just a few months away, the party is going to have to stop being the official opposition in Scotland and start pushing the manifesto on which it wants to become the next government of Scotland.

Policy insights

So what are the policies? Well, some have wondered whether Labour’s only policy is putting up tax (through its position on ending the SNP’s council tax freeze) but Mr Gray is planning to give a few insights at the party’s conference, in Oban.

Key manifesto commitments include the “living wage” of £7.15 for all, although this can only be imposed by government in the public sector, and the protection of “frontline services”.

These themes are pretty much the same as the SNP’s, although Labour will be vigorously opposing the Nationalists’ plans for a referendum on Scottish independence.

Mr Gray argues the SNP government has let Scots down by arguing for an independence referendum bill which won’t now be introduced in this parliament, while thousands of public and private sector workers have lost their jobs.

Labour’s new UK leader Ed Miliband has thrown his support behind Iain Gray

The leader will also attack the double whammy of what he calls the “Salmond slump” and the “Tory/Lib Dem attack on public services” – although that’s a tough message to sell when his opponents – currently forming the Scottish and UK governments – blame Labour’s economic legacy for having to make the most brutal spending cuts in decades.

And while the New Labour Scottish influence may now have gone with the departure of the likes of Gordon Brown from frontline politics, the party’s new UK leader, Ed Miliband, has thrown his support behind Iain Gray.

In an attempt to counter the perception of Mr Gray’s low public profile compared to the likes of Alex Salmond, Mr Miliband has told voters that, in these tough times, “Scotland needs a statesman, not a showman”.

Despite Labour’s Scottish turnout at the UK election, Mr Gray still knows he has a lot of tough work ahead if he is to become first minister of Scotland in 2011 – Holyrood elections are not Westminster elections, and some of the thinking behind what happened points towards a perceived desire to stop the Tories governing Britain.

The eyes of the whole Labour movement are now on Iain Gray.

As Ed Miliband puts it: “The road back for Labour runs through Scotland this May.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Work stress has been increasing in recent months, the report says

The global economic downturn led levels of work-related stress in the UK to soar, a British Academy report says.

Author Tarani Chandola, a University of Manchester sociologist, says those who kept jobs during the recession are affected as much as those left jobless.

He said that in each of the last two years, work stress levels rose by more than 4%, compared to annual rises between 0.1% and 1% from 1992 to 2009.

A CBI spokesman said businesses took staff health very seriously.

The report states that severe stress could trigger depression, anxiety, workplace injuries and suicide, and lead to a greater risk of heart disease.

Professor Chandola compiled existing evidence from peer-reviewed journals and major UK surveys to obtain a comprehensive view of work-related stress.

He told BBC News that work stress had been increasing steadily in Britain since the 1990s, but warned it had especially increased in the last recession.

“It’s likely to continue to increase because of the determinants of work stress: changes in working conditions and the government spending,” he added.

The report says that the public sector will be the most affected, and Professor Chandola said it was in the public sector that people have reported a significant increase in work hours.

The report warns job insecurity and unemployment rates tend to go hand in hand – whenever one of these factors rises, the other one jumps up as well.

“And [since] there are more women in the public sector workforce than men, that’s why we expect to see this effect hitting women workers particularly,” said Professor Chandola.

He said that since there was no law in the UK that forced managers to tackle their employees’ stress levels, it was impossible to know for sure what exactly employers were doing for their staff.

The Health and Safety Executive, which oversees workplace health, safety and welfare, has set up a number of management standards on tackling work stress.

These standards suggest surveying employees regularly to keep on track of any potential problems of work-related anxiety or depression in the work force. They also propose different action plans to actively reduce stress in a company.

And Neil Carberry, of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which represents around 200,000 British businesses, told BBC News: “Employers take the well being of staff very seriously.

“As the recent CBI/Pfizer absence and workplace health survey showed, many companies have strategies in place to address issues, such as workplace stress, and recognise the benefits of doing this for both the business and employees alike.”

Professor Chandola said employees, employers, as well as the government, have to deal with the work stress issue together.

“The trouble is, there are economic consequences of work stress,” explained the researcher, adding that the eventual cost for individuals and for wider society are usually much greater than the cost employers have to bear.

The report says many UK’s public sector workers have been worrying about losing their jobs

He added that these health consequences could be huge – encompassing the costs of treatment for mental well-being and other conditions, as well as lost productivity due to illnesses, including cardiovascular disease.

Professor Chandola added there was also an effect on how people saw themselves when they were out of work. “You feel that you have less value because you’re not a productive member of society,” he said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Scottish government says changing the current system would adversely affect Scotland

Switching Scotland to Central European Time would reduce road casualties, improve health and boost the economy, according to new research.

A report by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) claimed shifting the clocks forward by one hour all year round would benefit Scotland.

It said the limited number of daylight hours north of the border must be used “as efficiently as possible”.

But the Scottish government said it opposed any change.

The report has suggested a switch to Single/Double Summer Time (SDST), where winter would be one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and summer time would be two hours ahead of GMT.

This would mean it would get lighter an hour later than at present in the morning, and darker an hour later than is currently the case in the evening.

The report claimed the switch would boost the leisure and tourism industries through increased revenue and job generation.

It also argued that more accessible daylight hours could improve the nation’s health by boosting opportunities for outdoor activity.

And it claimed putting clocks forward by one hour would be likely to reduce road casualties in Scotland as more journeys home in the evening would be able to be made in daylight.

The report concluded that advancing the clocks by an hour would be beneficial for Scotland precisely because of the limited number of daylight hours it receives in the winter.

The report’s author, Dr Mayer Hillman, said: “For Scottish children, there would be a yearly increase of about 200 daylight hours, with roughly half of these falling on school days.

“Advancing the clocks by an hour, in real terms, would bring a further 50 hours of ‘available’ sunshine for children and 75 hours for adults in Scotland each year.”

But the Scottish government said changing the current system would adversely affect Scotland.

A spokesman said: “The impact would be felt by rural communities and outdoor workers and businesses, while reduced daylight between 8am and 9am in Scotland could potentially increase the danger for children travelling to school in the dark.”

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore also opposed a shift in Scotland’s daylight hours.

A spokesman for Mr Moore commented: “The minister has sought views from a number of interested bodies in Scotland.

“It is clear that there is plenty of opposition to this proposal in Scotland.

“The majority of business and industry leaders in Scotland are against a shift to Central European Time.”

Meanwhile, farmers’ leaders said they did not believe that “sufficient justification” had yet been given to make a change to current arrangements.

Scott Walker, policy director at NFU Scotland, commented: “We remain sceptical about some of the arguments that have been offered in support of the change and nervous of the potential impacts, but we feel the time is right to conduct a full, independent analysis of the impact.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) welcomed the report.

It said recent research had suggested that a move to SDST could reduce UK road deaths by about 80 per year and serious injuries by about 212 per year.

A spokesman said: “The effect of SDST is to save children’s lives, even more so in Scotland than in England and Wales, because Scotland has longer, darker winter evenings, which is where the principal casualties occur.”

Dr John Sproule, head of sport and health sciences at the University of Edinburgh said: “I support the ‘lighter-later’ campaign because I believe it can enhance the health and well being of people living in Scotland.

“I think it can help increase activity levels and if current trends continue about 50% of our population will be obese by 2050.

“We need to become more proactive in trying to ensure there are more opportunities to increase activity and we know that if young people have the opportunity to go outdoors when it is lighter, then children will be more active.”

At 0200 BST on 31 October, the UK will move to 0100 GMT

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Labour’s UK leader Ed Miliband and Scottish leader Iain Gray have launched a “doorstep election” campaign

Scottish Labour Iain Gray is launching his party’s “doorstep election” campaign, as it seeks a return to power at next May’s Holyrood elections.

At his party’s Scottish conference in Oban, Mr Gray will pledge to take the campaign to 100,000 homes between now and the New Year.

In his first Scottish conference speech as leader, Ed Miliband will attack the SNP over “broken promises” in power.

The party has been out of power in Scotland since the SNP’s 2007 victory.

Mr Gray is also reiterating his pledge for a “living wage” of at least £7.15 for all workers, which will form a key part of the next Scottish Labour manifesto.

And he said that during the last UK election – which saw Labour lose power but hang on to all its seats in Scotland – the constituencies which saw the biggest swing to the party were where activists spoke to the most people.

“The next Scottish election will be the doorstep election and I pledge to take Labour’s campaign to 100,000 doors,” said Mr Gray.

“We are going to get the message out that a Labour government will make sure everybody gets a fair wage.”

He went on: “There are going to be difficult decisions ahead and there will have to be pay restraint in the public sector, especially at the top, but Labour values demand we protect the lowest paid.”

‘Left behind’

Mr Gray said the living wage would be introduced in the public sector, followed by a campaign for it to be adopted elsewhere.

First Minister Alex Salmond matched the commitment at the recent SNP conference for those employed by the state.

In his speech, Mr Miliband will attack the SNP government for a record of “broken promises”, on issues such as class sizes and hospitals.

“Narrow nationalism has nothing to offer to meeting the challenges of the 21st century,” he will say.

“Let’s face it, across the world, the debate has changed since the financial crisis. Who is left behind? The Scottish National Party.

“While we’re fighting for jobs and hope, they are fighting to break up Britain.

“They have let down the people of Scotland. And Scotland deserves better.”

Mr Gray will be interviewed in a live BBC webcast from 0900-0930, using questions sent in from readers, listeners and viewers.

It can been seen at www.bbc.co.uk/scotlandnews.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Top lawyers have argued that life sentences need to be reformed

Research into the sentencing of murderers has found no evidence that people support mandatory life imprisonment.

The study found that those questioned had varying views about how long to jail murderers.

The report, funded by the charity the Nuffield Foundation, said the public had limited understanding of how convicted murderers were sentenced.

Researchers interviewed more than 1,000 people across in England and Wales.

The mandatory life sentence for all murders was introduced in 1965, when the death penalty was abolished.

The study, by Coventry University’s Professor Barry Mitchell and Oxford University’s Professor Julian Roberts, found the vast majority of those interviewed incorrectly believed there were more murders in England and Wales now than a decade ago.

But they went on: “We found no evidence of overwhelming or widespread public support for automatically sending all convicted murderers to life imprisonment.

“We found considerable evidence that the public perceive significant variations in the seriousness of different murder scenarios.”

Public support for the life sentence increased in relation to the seriousness of the crime, said the paper.

It also asked people what they thought about “joint enterprise” murders – typically gang killings where more than one member was present, but only one of them carried out the attack.

The study said that just one-fifth of those surveyed said it was right to convict someone of murder if they had not struck the fatal blow.

The authors said that their survey also indicated the public only vaguely understood that murderers released on a life licence could be recalled to prison at any time, despite having served a minimum term, known as a tariff.

“We found evidence that in relation to the more serious murders, those members of the public who favour release at some stage are content for sentencing judges to be given some measure of discretion, but would like that discretion to be limited or controlled, either through legal guidelines or through minimum and maximum periods of imprisonment,” said the report.

The research team said that if the law mirrored public opinion, then the mandatory life sentence would be reserved for the most serious murder cases – and judges would be able to sentence other murderers to different terms.

The Law Commission, which advises government, proposed such a three-tiered system in 2006 – but the then government rejected it.

It suggested first-degree murder, carrying a mandatory life sentence; second-degree murder, with a life term at the discretion of the judge plus sentence guidelines; and manslaughter, also with a maximum penalty of life.

Despite the lack of political support for such a move, top lawyers – including Keir Starmer, the current Director of Public Prosecutions, and his immediate predecessor Lord MacDonald – have continued to argue for the introduction of distinct first and second-degree murder charges.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Mohamed’s debut novel Black Mamba Boy is published by HarperCollins

An author born in Somalia has been shortlisted for the 2010 Guardian First Book award.

Nadifa Mohamed, who spent her early years in Hargeisa, Somaliland, before moving to the UK, is cited for her debut novel Black Mamba Boy.

The book, which describes a journey from her Somalian homeland to Port Talbot in Wales, is also shortlisted for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize.

The winners of both literary prizes will be announced on 1 December.

Black Mamba Boy is one of three novels and two non-fiction works in the running for the Guardian’s £10,000 prize.

Also in contention are Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman, about a boxer living in the east London of the 1930s, and Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto, a novel by Maile Chapman set in a women’s sanatorium in Finland.

The non-fiction works shortlisted are Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz, and Romantic Moderns by Alexandra Harris.

The former is a study of why human beings make everyday errors, while the latter is subtitled English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper.

Clare Armitstead, the Guardian’s literary editor, said the shortlist “reflects one of the year’s big literary themes – how to tell stories in our new era”.

Actress Diana Quick, journalist Ekow Eshun and the novelist and poet Adam Foulds are among those who will join her on the judging panel.

Last year’s winner was Petina Gappah for her short story collection, An Elegy for Easterly.

Mohamed is one of six writers up for the £30,000 Dylan Thomas prize, presented each year by the University of Wales.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

1971 hit Maggie May, co-written with Martin Quittenton, was a huge hit

What happened to Rod Stewart the songwriter?

The last original song the man behind global smash Maggie May released was the title track of 1998 album When We Were the New Boys. It was the only original on an album full of tracks written by other artists.

Since then, Stewart has concentrated on album after album of his Great American Songbook series and other cover collections.

Maggie May was written after Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood began strumming a Bob Dylan song

“You could say we’re addicted to it, really,” he says in trademark raspy voice, made hoarser by a bout of flu.

“You could go on, I could record another five – we’d never run out of songs.”

All of those cover albums to date – beginning with 2002’s first Great American Songbook – have gone platinum in the UK and the US.

Stewart’s fifth and final instalment of his lushly-orchestrated series features “good cocktail hour, dinner party music” including I Get A Kick Out Of You, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Beyond The Sea.

Diehard Rod fans will lap it up. But don’t they also deserve to know why the 65-year-old – who wrote such hits as You Wear It Well, Hot Legs, Baby Jane and Every Beat Of My Heart – has dried up when it comes to penning his own hits?

Stewart fires back a series of explanations.

“There’s many reasons, I don’t feel the desire at the moment – I haven’t met somebody I feel I can write with.

NEVER A DULL MOMENT: Rod on…

… The Faces reunion: “We’re waiting for old mother Jagger, we don’t know what the Stones are going to do – that’s Woody’s main interest.”… not making rock stars like they used to: “Thank heavens for that – not with haircuts and noses like this.”… business: “In The Faces, I left business affairs to Woody, Woody left it to me, I left it to Kenney. There was drinking. Money disappeared.”… auto-tune: “I must admit I used it a couple of times on the album when I’ve hit a note. I say: ‘That note there, straighten that little note out.'”… modern music: “I like a blues/R&B starting point. Take That – I’m not putting them down, they keep people happy – but it goes right by me.”… why he no longer releases singles: “I’ve got no idea, mate, I couldn’t give you a clue. Nobody releases singles any more, do they?”

“It’s difficult to get the new material played with us old-timers, it really is.

“I think we’ve had a fair crack of the whip, so we can’t complain.

“I wanna do a blues album, I wanna do a country album, so maybe after all that’s done I can get someone to write with.”

His most famed composition, 1971’s Maggie May, propelled him to worldwide fame.

Although it was co-written with guitarist Martin Quittenton, Stewart says his memories of creating it begin with Ronnie Wood strumming Bob Dylan’s 1965 song It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.

Wood, latterly a Rolling Stone, was Stewart’s bandmate in The Faces.

“I think the first two chords may be similar, the melody’s not,” Stewart says.

“We did it at Lansdowne Studios in London and it was one of those where we went round the pub first and than saw what we got.”

That’s humble beginnings for a song which was originally the B-side to Reason to Believe before it was reclassified as the A-side thanks to public reaction. It went on to top the UK and US charts for five weeks each.

“When it went to number one in Britain and America, that’s when we all went out and got drunk,” Stewart says.

“The drinking went on for a long time and why not?”

Stewart is expecting his eighth child next year

He says he remembers visiting his parents shortly afterwards: “That was probably the most gratifying, more than any big cheque or new car or whatever, to know that not just my mum and dad but my whole family had stood by me.

“They weren’t the type to say ‘get yourself a day job, it’s not going to last’, which is not what you want to hear when you’re a musician.”

But will the former mod, who is due to become a father for the eighth time next year, ever again celebrate a self-written hit?

It’s only when asked if he ever writes that things become clear.

“No, never. It’s always been hard work.

“The nearest thing that this business I’m in comes to being a job is when I’ve had to write songs.”

This is not an ageing rocker with a chronic case of writers’ block. This is an ageing rocker who hates writing songs.

Stewart adds by way of a further admission: “Speak to anyone in The Faces, they’ll say ‘We had to lock him in a room and take the key away to get him to finish the lyrics to a song’.

“So it was always like being at school.”

He continues: “When you think of the minimal amount of songs that I’ve written and how many of them have been successful, you could say I’ve got an impressive strike rate.”

And while he hasn’t completely ruled out a return to songwriting – “I wouldn’t say that it’ll never happen, it could happen” – don’t hold your breath.

His coming out as a successful songwriter who detests writing songs marks him out as unusual.

But his success in recording long-established songs speaks for itself.

In the US, his last six albums have yielded two number ones, two number twos and two number fours.

And in album sales by British artists in America in the 2000s, he was outsold only by The Beatles and Coldplay.

Perhaps the real question is why would Rod Stewart bother to write another song?

Fly Me to the Moon…The Great American Songbook Volume V is out in the UK on Monday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.