The Chancellor’s announcement of a small cut in the Universal Credit taper rate goes nowhere near making up for the cuts his predecessor announced in July 2015, which will leave many low-paid working families hundreds – even thousands – of pounds worse off a year. As the End Child…Read more…
More money for housing in Autumn Statement – but also more Right To Buy
This afternoon in the #AutumnStatement Philip Hammond announced a number of measures that go some way to addressing the crisis we are facing in both the private and rented housing sectors. These include: A Housing Infrastructure Fund of £2.3bn by 2020-2021, funded by the NPIF (National Productivity…Read more…
Productivity and the #AutumnStatement: an antidote to Brexit?
Philip Hammond committed to raising productivity in today’s Autumn Statement. A National Productivity Investment Fund worth £23bn will focus on infrastructure, including digital communications, and research and development. £23bn sounds like a lot of money; as Geoff has blogged elsewhere, it is…Read more…
NHS and social care funding crisis completely missing from #AutumnStatement
“Departments will continue to deliver overall spending plans set at the Spending Review 2015” That was how the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement to respond to the crisis in our NHS and social care services. The NHS, deep in funding crisis, wasn’t mentioned once –…Read more…
Slash, Trash, and Privatize – or Transform the NHS?
By Robert Jones I’ve been involved with the NHS, mostly but not exclusively on the Island, for at least 15 years now. I’ve served on the CHC, PPI Forum, LINk (local involvement network); having been…Read more…
Growing unrest
The prospect of industrial unrest at the Dounreay nuclear decommissioning site in Caithness is growing after DSRL, the company which employs most of the staff on site, indicated it was not prepared…Read more…
JAM tomorrow? Not much in the Autumn Statement for those Just About Managing
In the last few days the press has been full of claims that this afternoon’s autumn financial statement would be all about the ‘just about managing’. This was the first chance for the new Conservative leadership to show how they would build an ‘economy that works for everyone’ and to turn Theresa…Read more…
#AutumnStatement minimum wage rises leave 21 to 24 year olds £450 a year out of pocket
The government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations and will increase all national minimum wage rates from 1st April 2017. The government’s national living wage (introduced in April of this year) will go up by 4.2%, a 30p increase, to £7.50 an hour. That’s good, but there’s a fly…Read more…
And the cuts go on
The new Tory government under the leadership of Theresa May has sought to distinguish itself from its predecessor by claiming time and again to be on the side of working people – or in the latest…Read more…
#AutumnStatement minimum wage rises leave 21 to 24 year olds £450 a year out of pocket
The government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations and will increase all national minimum wage rates from 1st April 2017. The government’s national living wage (introduced in April of this year) will go up by 4.2%, a 30p increase, to £7.50 an hour. That’s good, but there’s a fly…Read more…
Prime Minister reconfirms commitment to workers’ representation on company boards before #Autumn Statement
Speaking immediately before the #Autumn Statement to a packed House of Commons, the Prime Minister clearly said that the government would bring in worker representation on company boards: I believe that we should see workers’ representation on boards. I make no apology for the fact that this…Read more…
The racist tide will only be driven back by anti-racists standing up and confronting it- Talat Ahmed, Stand Up to Racism, Scotland
A racist offensive is sweeping Europe, with governments and the right-wing media using migrants, refugees and Muslims as scapegoats for an economic crisis and wars they did not create.
The recent…Read more…
All too little
Chancellor Philip Hammond has failed to throw a lifeline to those on low wages or to demonstrate that this government will lay the solid economic foundations needed for a successful Brexit. Unite…Read more…
The Chancellor has ignored social care and the NHS will pay the price, says UNISON
Commenting on the complete absence of help in the Autumn Statement for social care or the NHS, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Hopes were raised the Chancellor would conjure up extra…Read more…
Autumn Statement: The government is spreading the ‘jam’ far too thinly
Aside from those on the very lowest wages, the pay misery for school, hospital and town hall staff goes on. The government’s stubborn refusal to end the one per cent pay cap means wages are lagging…Read more…
#AutumnStatement: Chancellor goes a little way to meet his investment challenge
Today the Chancellor has finally recognised that spending on infrastructure strengthens the economy. Measures the TUC has long called for were announced, including more cash for housing, high speed broadband, rail and roads. Overall the Chancellor’s measures amounted to £23bn, a big sounding…Read more…
#AutumnStatement: Working people are facing a hit of £1000 per year by 2020
The OBR figures released today for the Autumn Statement showed lower economic growth translating into lower wage growth for the next four years. On top of this, weaker sterling has translated into significantly higher inflation, especially in 2017. For…Read more…
The government has spread the ‘jam’ far too thinly, says UNISON
Commenting on the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement today (Wednesday) UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “Despite all the rhetoric, the previous Chancellor’s austerity plan is still very much…Read more…
The #AutumnStatement chose corporate tax cuts over the pay rise Britain’s workers need
In the details of Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement came a worrying confirmation for those of us campaigning for a pay rise for Britain’s workforce. The Autumn Statement’s accompanying OBR forecast shows that the average annual wage will be £1,000 lower in 2020 than predicted at…Read more…
How much of a risk do new cleaning agents pose to you?
UNISON survey aims to find out scale of problem in wake of concerns over rise in superbugs
The article How much of a risk do new cleaning agents pose to you? first appeared on the UNISON National…Read more…