The eurosceptic Business for Britain campaign – not to be confused with the pro-European Business for New Europe campaign – this week issued what you might call ‘the longest blackmail letter’ in history to Prime Minister David Cameron. But they have done us a great service…Read more…
Bonn blog #2: UK performance at UN climate talks and the future of just transition
I’ve been at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Bonn this week, where 195 countries are negotiating the international climate treaty that will be debated at COP21 climate talks in Paris in December. This blog describes my initial thoughts on the process, as someone…Read more…
Bonn blog #1: UN hooks Just Transition at #SB42
In Bonn this week, where the UN is labouring through an 86-page draft climate treaty, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has welcomed the return of three clear commitments in the draft text to just transition and decent work. Labour’s three “hooks” re-appeared in the UN draft treaty as…Read more…
The most unequal rich country in Northern Europe
Last month the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (the rich countries’ club) published In it Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All. It develops the argument the OECD has been making for some time about the malign economic consequences of inequality, and presents evidence to…Read more…
New ORR figures reveal stealth fare increases amid soaring costs of privatisation
New figures released by the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) last week revealed that since privatisation took effect, ticket prices have skyrocketed, with much of the rise happening in unregulated fares – so-called ‘stealth increases’. Between 1995 and 2015 fares rose across all…Read more…
The OECD, the ‘B-minus economy’, the case for infrastructure spending and the UK
Yesterday the OECD set out their view of the global economy. They make a constructive and very strong case for borrowing to finance infrastructure spending. B-minus performance OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría awarded the OECD economic performance a B-minus “The global economy is projected to…Read more…
‘Markit’ concede increasing concerns on recovery following services PMI
Just ahead of the election the weakness in the GDP figures was greeted with some scepticism (see here). Earlier this week there were disappointing manufacturing figures from Markit, who compile ‘purchasing managers’ index’ measures of activity. Yesterday Markit issued service…Read more…
Double dose of bad news on manufacturing
Over the past year official statistics have shown growth in the manufacturing sector steadily slowing to a near halt, with in 2015Q1 quarterly growth only just above zero at 0.1 per cent. Today two private sector sources reported this weakness continui…Read more…
Conservatives wishing to be ‘more human’ should embrace trade unions
Three and a half weeks on from the General Election, there is much soul-searching taking place in Labour circles. But what of the Conservatives? They won the election, so they simply need to implement their manifesto, right? Well, no actually. Clearly …Read more…
Why diet-ISDS is almost as bad as ISDS, and why we should oppose both
The popular outcry against Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the element of trade deals which gives foreign investors a privileged route to claim compensation for measures they claim cost them future profits, led the European Union Trade Commissioner to come up earlier this month with an…Read more…
Weak GDP growth underpinned by hefty decline in net trade, as falling prices distort picture
GDP figures today are not exactly straightforward to unravel. The headline messages are the same as last month. Quarterly growth in 2015Q1 was unrevised at 0.3%, down from 0.6% in Q4. Compared with a year ago, growth is unrevised at 2.4%. The output fi…Read more…
#QueensSpeech 2015: Immigration Bill will fuel undercutting and hostility
Today measures for a new Immigration Bill were announced in the Queen’s Speech. The Bill sets out a fundamentally contradictory position, first aired by David Cameron in a speech last week, that you can tackle exploitation of workers by taking their rights away. Helping bad bosses The Bill will…Read more…
#QueensSpeech 2015: Referendum Bill raises yet more questions
The Queen’s Speech today was silent on the hugely important issue of the negotiating strategy the government intends to pursue ahead of the EU referendum, and few other questions were answered by the references to the Bill we expect to see published tomorrow. Speak softly and run like hell…Read more…
Why take on trade unions ahead of the Paris climate treaty talks?
The TUC backs campaigns for green jobs and supports trade union efforts that green the workplace to good effect through energy saving schemes. Unions support investment in energy productivity because official data shows that the average rate of UK comm…Read more…
More Right to Buy – what will go wrong
Right to Buy likely to go wrong Worryingly the Queen’s Speech confirms that there will be a bill to extend the Right to Buy to tenants in Housing Associations. The TUC opposes this measure on two grounds; that the funding model of housing associations would be seriously damaged by such a…Read more…
#QueensSpeech 2015: nothing to say on international development?
Everyone agrees that this is a crucial year for international development. The Millennium Development Goals expire this year, and will be replaced at the UN General Assembly in September with 17 sustainable development goals, aiming to eradicate global…Read more…
£12 billion of benefit cuts will do a lot of damage
The new government starts work with commitments to benefit cuts that will be difficult to deliver but politically impossible to avoid. All the options open to the government will cause serious hardship but still won’t deliver the scale of savings the Chancellor wants. It’s very likely that one…Read more…
EU referendum: workers’ rights and the right to vote are at stake
Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech will announce an EU referendum bill which will be published on Thursday (although the issue of who gets to vote was trailed over the weekend.) Last Friday, the Prime Minister began his campaign to ‘renegotiate’ Britain’s membership with other…Read more…
Has Europe come up with a better ‘better regulation’ initiative?
Last week, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans launched a ‘better regulation’ initiative. Once you’ve lived through a few dozen of these, you do get a bit jaundiced (I go back to Michael Heseltine’s ‘bonfire of red tape’ in 1994 although the Daily…Read more…
Europe needs to commit on aid
Tomorrow, foreign ministers from across the EU will be meeting and will consider what to do about Europe’s pledge on overseas aid. For the first time, the British minister will be attending with a legal commitment to spend the UN recommended 0.7% of GNI (Gross National Income) on official…Read more…