Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

Local government bosses offered unions a doubled offer for council workers’ pay this week that could end three months of deadlock and avert strikes across England and Wales.

The Government has warned military chiefs to stop playing politics with the lives of British troops in Afghanistan. The move comes amid complaints, led by the head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, that frontline combatants in Helmand province have too few helicopters and numbers.

The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers are calling members out on strike at secondary schools in Tamworth in September to disrupt the start of the new academic year.

Unions have condemned as “totally inadequate” and a “slap on the wrist” the fine handed out to a private detective who blacklisted thousands of construction workers.

War on Want has accused Foreign Secretary David Miliband of putting civilian lives at risk in Afghanistan by continuing to allow private military companies based in Britain to regulate themselves.

The once “forgotten war” is foremost in many minds this week, as footage of American hostage Private Bowe Bergdahl was released online and the death toll of British servicemen continued to rise.

Workers at Procter and Gamble’s Reading plant have become the company’s first British workforce to gain trade union recognition after a ballot last week.