Leader comment: BlindCraft

When there is a bloodbath there are always victims - and the 1200-plus council workers who today face the axe as the city struggles to save £32 million are just the most obvious ones.

As we revealed yesterday and continue to report today, the repercussions of the council's cuts will be felt across Edinburgh for years.

Among all these victims - in our schools, community groups and every corner of the city - it's hard not to feel especially sorry for BlindCraft's workers.

After a hard-fought campaign for survival, it looks almost certain that the factory will close and its 53 employees will face the dole.

The News helped force a rethink last year when the council first proposed shutting the bed-making firm to save its 700,000 subsidy.

But the three-day working week alternative plan was rejected after workers said they couldn't live on 40 per cent less pay. Some will ask if the council anticipated as much when it made the offer.

Either way, after yesterday's council meeting it looks like 218 years of good work by the charity in Edinburgh are about to end.

Perhaps just one hope remains. The Aberdeen version, Glencraft, went into liquidation but was reborn last year thanks to a partnership between a local private firm, Production Services Network Ltd, the Scottish Government and Aberdeen City Council.

A key player in reviving the company was Sue Bruce, who of course just happens to be the new chief executive of Edinburgh City Council.

Over to you, Mrs Bruce?

Invaluable care

Caring mum Kerri Bishop will always be grateful her teenage daughter Siobhan nagged her into getting her eyes tested because it might just have saved her life.

The 45-year-old was ready to hurry home for her daughter's 18th birthday celebrations until Siobhan insisted she stay for the check-up which identified a brain tumour.

We are extremely lucky in Scotland to have free universal eye tests, something long deemed an unaffordable luxury in England and Wales.

And despite the SNP Government resisting independent budget advice to review the situation you have to wonder how much longer the estimated 23 million annual cost will remain affordable.

In the meantime though, Mrs Bishop, who is thankfully on the road to recovery, has a good message for us all: don't forget to use your free eye test.