7 h. ago Ayrshire Stagecoach strike shows no sign of halting as drivers picket bus station

Strikes by bus drivers in Ayrshire are set to continue amid a claim that Unite and Stagecoach have not spoken to each other since the industrial action began.

Events

30 h. ago Michelle O’Neil accuses DUP minister of inflaming racial tensions on social media

Gordon Lyons rejects calls to resign after posting information about leisure centre hours before it was set on fireNorthern Ireland’s first minister has accused a DUP politician of “inflaming” tensions, as the display of political unity after three nights of violence fractured when a leisure centre in Larne was set on fire.Gordon Lyons, the communities minister, should “consider his position”, Michelle O’Neill said. Hours before the centre was set on fire by a mob of masked youths, Lyons had posted on social media that the building was used to accommodate several people who had fled from Ballymena, about 20 miles (32km) away. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal review – an ambitious Indian panorama

In the first novel from the author of We Move, descendants of a proscribed intercaste marriage are connected across continents and centuriesGurnaik Johal’s first book, 2022’s We Move, demonstrated how rewarding it can be for a gifted young writer to ignore conventional wisdom. Writers who land in agents’ inboxes with collections of stories are invariably told to come back when they have a novel, and to write about what they know. Johal’s stories were set in a world he knows intimately – the immigrant communities of west London – but they moved between professions and generations with thrilling confidence.Saraswati is also populated by a large cast of diaspora Punjabis. But where Johal’s collection stood apart from the landscape it was published into, his first novel is a representative example of a ubiquitous 21st-century genre. That genre lacks a name – in 2012, Douglas Coupland proposed “translit”, which didn’t catch on then and certainly won’t now – but its features are all ...

Politics

4 d. ago Stagecoach drivers left with 'absolutely no choice' as six week strike begins

The striking drivers say they understand how important the county's bus services are to their communities.

Events

4 d. ago Six week Stagecoach strike begins as Ayrshire communities set to be cut off

Ten Ayrshire towns won't see a Stagecoach bus for the next six weeks.

Events

1 week ago Ayrshire Scottish Water workers walk out in pay dispute as strike action resumes

Strike action at Scottish Water sites in Ayrshire has resumed following a dispute over pay

Economics

1 week ago Reduced Stagecoach bus service in Ayrshire as second day of strike action starts

Several Stagecoach services in Ayrshire have been reduced or cancelled completely as drivers walk out for the second time in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Events

2 w. ago Stagecoach call for renewed discussion ahead of second Ayrshire strike

Stagecoach have issued a statement as they seek a resolution to the disruption caused by strike action in Ayrshire.

Events