When is a promise not a promise? In my household, safeguarding of confectionary and sharing of toys are both subject to frequent exemptions. But beyond domestic squabbles, the subject is getting an airing in the pensions world. In the firing line is th…Read more…
Major Reforms to Self-Employed Tax Administration
Government proposals for tax reforms may sound very technical, but they have huge implications for self-employed workers. Back in August the government published a set of Consultation Documents on their proposed reforms to the UK tax system under the r…Read more…
Is the UK’s employment lucky streak coming to an end? It’s too early to say
Yes, unemployment went up in the latest figures. Yes, I fear unemployment is going to rise significantly over the next 18 months. But today’s jobs figures don’t give us grounds for claiming it’s already started. The headline unemployment figure in June – August was 1,656,000 up from 1,646,000 in…Read more…
Huge government reforms are stopping the effective delivery of justice
Our system of justice has become unaffordable to most. This sentence isn’t an exaggeration, placed at the beginning of this post just to get your attention. It is in fact a direct quote from Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, aka the head of our judiciary and president of our courts. A new…Read more…
Belgium must vote no tomorrow to stop CETA
Tomorrow trade ministers from EU countries will meet in Luxembourg at the Foreign Affairs Council where they are due to decide whether to approve the EU-Canada trade deal known as CETA. The TUC and unions across the EU and Canada are calling for governments to oppose the deal. A ‘joint…Read more…
What’s up with self-employment?
Last week I was perusing the latest Business; activity, size and location statistics on the ONS website (which counts as a good time in your 30s) when I noticed an interesting quirk: the number of private sector businesses continues to grow but the num…Read more…
Women earn £8,500 less a year by the time they reach their 50s
Today the TUC has published figures which show how the gender pay gap widens as you get older. The most dramatic widening happens between the 30s and 40s. The gap in annual earnings has more than doubles, increasing from £3,034 a year to £7,234 a year. By the age of 50, a woman working…Read more…
Despite Brexit worries and business lobbying, the PM must hold her nerve on minimum wage raises
In order to continue to take a place in the centre ground, the Prime Minister must stick to the government’s National Living Wage target for 2020, as this is now under some threat. When Greg Clark became business secretary, he immediately came under pressure to water down or delay the National…Read more…
Q. How did George Osborne end up borrowing FOUR TIMES more than he said he would?
A. His spending cuts crushed economic growth, meaning that in 2015-16 tax revenue fell short of expectations by £85bn. New analysis from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) carefully details exactly how Osborne managed to end up with this colossal failure to stick to his original plans:…Read more…
State Pension Age: Cridland identifies the challenges but the way forward remains unclear
John Cridland, one suspects, has probably spent much of the summer in a darkened room with a cold flannel over his eyes. The former boss of the employer’s group the CBI has produced, under the auspices of his Independent Review of State Pension Age, a useful and sophisticated account of the many…Read more…
The Brexit economy: the ship seems steady, but the waters are choppy
If you’re confused about the state of the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit vote, we don’t blame you. In the past few days alone you might have heard that consumer confidence is at its highest level for two years. Maybe you’ve read that business confidence is “bouncing back” with optimism…Read more…
Pensions: It’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world
The late James Brown had a complicated enough life without worrying about UK pensions saving. But the Godfather of Soul’s famous, if patronising, take on gender politics provides an appropriate soundtrack for the state of British retirement savings. Women make up just 36 per cent of those eligible…Read more…
Big win for Robin Hood Tax in Europe
Earlier this week, Finance Ministers from 10 Eurozone countries finally reached agreement on the principle of a Robin Hood Tax. Legislative drafting will now begin, and campaigners will be pressing the Ministers to conclude the details by December. Mea…Read more…
Official: Universal Credit is “less generous” than tax credits
For the first time, an authoritative statutory body has recognised that the cuts to Universal Credit announced in last summer’s Budget will mean that it is much less generous than was originally planned, making it effectively a cut when compared with Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit which it…Read more…
Life and death: a tale of inequality
The latest figures for life expectancy and healthy life expectancy show that where you live can be a matter of life and death: the more deprived your town or district, the lower your life expectancy. The data, from the Office for National Statistics, show life expectancy for men and women for…Read more…
What else is Government policy on the EU27 #right2remain but mental cruelty?
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox repeated at a Conservative Party Conference fringe meeting this week that the right of EU27 citizens currently living and working in the UK was a major bargaining chip in the Brexit negotiations. He was setting ou…Read more…
New declaration shows why countries must say NO to CETA deal
Yesterday an add-on to the CETA EU-Canada trade agreement proposed by the European Commission and the Canadian government (titled a ‘joint interpretive declaration’) was leaked. Trade ministers from EU countries will be asked to vote on CETA in just over a week on October 18 so the purpose of the…Read more…
Record investment or NHS funding crisis? The stats behind Theresa May’s spending boast
“Let us take this opportunity to show that we, the Conservative Party, truly are the party of the workers. The party of the public servants. The party of the NHS. Because we believe in public service. We believe in investing in and supporting the institutions that make our country great” Thus spoke…Read more…
All Aboard Making worker representation on company boards a reality
Speaking today at the Conservative Party Conference, the Prime Minister repeated her commitment to introduce worker representation on company boards. The TUC has just published a new report All Aboard that sets out proposals for making this a reality, …Read more…
Workers’ rights and Brexit: holding the PM to her pledges
Last Friday, I reiterated our key demand of the Government over Brexit: workers must not pay the price for the decision to leave. TUC opinion polling after the referendum showed that whatever people voted for on 23 June, it wasn’t to lose precious rights at work. The TUC and unions – as…Read more…