George Osborne announced today that the government would introduce a new National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and above, to apply from April 2016 onwards (Budget Report, p32, Para 1.121). This will take the form of an initial 50p supplement to the existing adult rate National…Read more…
What is a bird-in-the-bush worth to pension savers?
It’s a hard sale to make. “See that bird in your hand? Well I am taking it away. But don’t worry – in 50 years time you will get two, actually make that one, pecking around over there in the bush.” This is the scenario the Treasury is effectively exploring with its…Read more…
A plan for working people that leaves them worse off (on the basis of the OBR figures)
There is a lot to absorb in this astonishing budget where those who have suffered most in the recession appear to be paying most for a partial ending of austerity. But in spite of the claimed ‘plan for working people’, it appears that the OBR think households will end up worse not better…Read more…
Summer Budget 2015 has little to say on industrial policy
The headlines from today’s Budget are pretty clear to see: the National Living Wage, an apprenticeship levy for large employers, a further squeeze on benefits. There is little to say on industrial policy and whilst today’s Budget can be viewed as a statement about big themes, concerns that the…Read more…
Osborne’s “ugly political debate” on green subsidies spooks investors
Another unhappy budget for the green economy, confirming the sale of the Green Investment Bank, a sovereign wealth fund for communities that host shale gas development, more roads investment, and expanding the North Sea allowances to include additional…Read more…
#Budget2015 gives with one hand but takes with the other
George Osborne is giving with one hand and taking away with the other in today’s Budget. The Chancellor has finally woken up to the fact that Britain needs a pay rise. The TUC has long campaigned for the minimum wage to rise faster and it’s good to see that the Chancellor has listened…Read more…
Hypocrisy of Eurozone leaders, refusing to admit austerity has failed Greece
It’s difficult to write anything about the Greek crisis without it being immediately out of date although the crisis itself, and the suffering of the Greek people, continues unabated. After the stunning 22% “no” majority in Sunday’s Greek referendum (like Britain’s…Read more…
I love redistribution
You know you’re a nerd when you’ve got a favourite statistic but you only know you’re a geek when you can’t stop telling people about it. I’ve really got to write about The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income, even though it came out last week. I was away on the 29th (I…
The…Read more…
5 essential climate objectives for the Budget
The government must use its first Budget to reassure UK citizens it will do enough to ensure the UK plays its part in limiting the global rise in temperature to less than 2 degrees. However reports suggest that unprotected government departments that lead on green business and the UK’s response to…Read more…
Manufacturing’s lost decade – time to boost green infrastructure
Latest official figures show UK manufacturing output is five per cent below its pre-recession peak. As The Telegraph said today, “Britain is on course for ‘lost decade’ of manufacturing after output disappoints.” The TUC estimates that in the three months to May 2015, production and…Read more…
How to end poverty – trying the wrong way first
This week two announcements will be designed to set the government’s course for the next five years. It looks as though the definition of poverty and how it can be eliminated will be at the heart of this undertaking. On Saturday the TUC and the Child Poverty Action Group published a new report…Read more…
One London: under the coalition, the capital’s economy moved even further from the rest of the UK
As the government’s flagship regional initiative seemingly flounders under the failings of investment in the railways and ahead of potential Budget announcements, it is worth reviewing just how far the regional reality is from the rhetoric. For over the period of the coalition, London moved even…Read more…
Why investor protection matters so much in trade deals
The European Parliament will vote at last on Wednesday (unless the vote is postponed again, until the autumn) on the most toxic element of modern trade deals: investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). Like the rest of the European trade union movement, we’re calling on MEPs to exclude ISDS,…Read more…
Cameron’s EU renegotiation strategy matters to everyone in Europe
Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem about Nazi persecution begins (in its most quoted version): “first they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist”. It eventually ends up “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up…Read more…
MEPs must listen to the people and vote down #ISDS compromise in #TTIP debate
Our MEPs look set at last to debate and vote later this week on the promised resolution on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal between the EU and USA. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is calling on MEPs to vote a…Read more…
A workplace savings strategy is a good idea – but tread carefully
New Pensions Minister Ros Altmann has caused a stir with the publication this week of her pre-Election musings about the possible desirability of extending workplace savings beyond pensions. This is a useful and important development because a strategy…Read more…
New MoJ figures reveal assault on access to justice, as spending cuts caused huge drop in legal aid work
The implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) has resulted in “large reductions in legal help workload and expenditure”, reveal new Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics. The statistics reveal that government reforms and spending cuts have led directly…Read more…
Iain Duncan Smith tears up the Child Poverty Act – and tells us he’s going to “improve” it
Well, after David Cameron prepared us for savage cuts to Child Tax Credit, lots of people expected that the government was going to change the Child Poverty Act substantially. After all, the last five years of cuts led the Institute for Fiscal Studies …Read more…
Could CDC hatch from NEST?
Legislation paving the way for new-style collective pensions was one of several achievements in Steve Webb’s tenure as the Coalition government’s Pensions Minister. Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pensions are a mainstay of the Dutch pensions system and have been used in other…Read more…
#TTIP news: 10 reasons why the latest #ISDS compromise is a bad deal
Yesterday the Socialists & Democrats Group in the European Parliament voted 56-34 to endorse a compromise amendment to the Parliament’s draft resolution on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP, the EU-US trade deal), covering the controversial issue of Investor-State…Read more…