Rodney Bickerstaffe, general secretary of the public employees' union Nupe, said that local management of schools, giving schools control over their own budgets would mean less money for education.(BNCI)
Meanwhile John Edmonds, general secretary of Britain's general union the GMB, claimed the rate rise would throw 250,000 people out of work. (BNCI)
Mr Mladenov followed his appointment as Communist Party General Secretary with a speech clearly aimed at the country's dissident movement, which has been growing. (BNCI)