Near-miss for Labour

The Labour Party in Scotland only received overt union backing for this month's Scottish Executive and council elections by the narrowest of margins.

The Scottish TUC's general council agreed by only one vote to call for a Labour victory after public services union UNISON, the largest Labour affiliate in Scotland, abstained.

Both sides played down the snub. An STUC spokesperson said the vote had only been procedural and a UNISON press officer said it was still affiliated to the party but "we didn't think it was appropriate to make a statement including party support".