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

The search for a Labour candidate in the safe Labour seat of Wigan descended into chaos and tears after a series of blunders which means the selection has had to be restarted.

Ukraine is bracing itself for what is expected to be a “no quarter given” contest next week as Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych go head to head in the last few days before the run-off in the country’s crucial presidential election.

David Cameron has done it; Labour ministers have done it. But a new union-backed campaign is asking MPs to stop employing unpaid interns – and calling for companies to be forced to do the same.

Although 13,000 have died since 1993, you are unlikely to see any words of sympathy for them. No one will be raising funds to commemorate their lives, and most died anonymously in desperate circumstances. They are the refugees and economic migrants who are victims of the immigration laws designed to keep them out of Europe.

John McFall, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, believes that, in future, financial institutions must be allowed to go bust – because taxpayers will not be prepared to fund another bail out.

Unions could challenge the Government in the European Court of Justice if it does not change the forthcoming law on temporary and agency workers, the Communication Workers Union has warned.