The CWU Scotland No 2 Branch has voted to back a yes vote in the independence referendum next year. The union, which covers postal workers in the Stirling, Edinburgh, Fife and Falkirk, has voted to play an active role in the campaign for Scottish independence.

The vote is symbolic because it is the first union to make such a move, and because less than a year ago, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont gave an empassioned speech in favour of the union at the CWU annual conference.

But members voted to back independence because of widening inequality in Britain, and the failure of successive Labour and Conservative governments to revoke anti-union laws.