The US Senate decision last night to withhold fast-track ‘Trade Promotion Authority’ for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a blow also to the EU-US Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP), and it demonstrates that opposition to TTIP is not a solely European…Read more…
Pay growth to slow and public sector restraint a big factor, says CIPD
A new survey of 1,013 employers published by the CIPD published today* reports that pay growth is expected to slow during the coming year, and that many employers now believe that public sector restraint is slowing pay growth across the whole economy: •”Basic pay is expected to grow by just…Read more…
Election 2015: This was not a one nation campaign
We have to hope that David Cameron’s pledge to govern as a one nation Prime Minister will be his first major U-turn – for his campaign and manifesto was anything but.
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Schools and teachers have to fill the holes in the welfare safety net
Last month, an overwhelming majority of the 2,000 members of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) replying to a survey said that their schools were providing support for children from deprived backgrounds. The same proportion – 84 per cent – said that they were providing more of…Read more…
The next chancellor should reject the logic behind today’s warning from the FT’s Chris Giles that weak productivity would mean ‘harsher austerity’
In a column in today’s Financial Times (‘What the next chancellor does not yet know’), Chris Giles sets the economic tone for the next Parliament in part on the basis of yet unknown productivity outcomes. For Giles, as for many others, productivity is an inherent quality or defect of the economy…Read more…
Ten Reasons to Vote
The election campaign is coming to an end, and it’s time to mark your ballot. We’ve put together ten big issues which can be changed by the next government, and should give you reason to get out and vote. But first the practicalities… If you’ve registered to vote (yes, if…Read more…
How many hours should parents be expected to work?
How many hours should parents be expected to work in order not to be poor? New research published last week by Child Poverty Action Group explores this tricky question. Round the clock: In work poverty and the ‘hours question’ recognises from the outset that there are multiple factors which shape…Read more…
The case for an Independent Pensions Commission
This is my contribution to an NAPF publication on the need for an Independent Pensions Commission. I argue that this is not “taking the politics out of pensions” – an absurdly impossible task – but rather a chance to bring social partnership to another field of policy…Read more…
Counting the cost of austerity for councils and communities
The Austerity Audit, published today by UNISON details the damage caused by the unprecedented squeeze on funding that has had such a dramatic impact on local council services in England and the people that provide them. The government has already cut the funding to local councils by £12.5bn or 37%…Read more…
Rise in assaults and self-harm in prisons, new Ministry of Justice statistics reveal
New Ministry of Justice statistics reveal that in the year up to December 2014 incidents of self-harm and assaults in prisons have increased significantly, revealing a system under serious strain where safety standards have plummeted. Most astonishing …Read more…
There’s a long road to true LGBT equality…
Pride in London has issued a call for politicians to support a pledge, a commitment to the steps needed “to make London the best LGBT+ city in the world”. The TUC warmly welcomes this, the first time that Pride in London has done anything like this.
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Behind the statistics: The impact of government policies on disabled workers
A report from the Public Interest Research Unit on behalf of Disabled People Against Cuts shows the cumulative impact of the Coalition government’s policies on disabled workers in employment. Although the report’s author, Rupert Harwood, acknowledges the self-selecting basis of his study of…Read more…
Over a million visits to food banks
In the 2014-15 financial year, Trussel Trust foodbanks helped feed families over one million times. As Michael noted when he blogged about this last week, that figure only covers Trussel foodbanks. If you include the ventures run by churches, charities…Read more…
Manufacturing in the balance?
From the latest official figures, it looks as if manufacturing’s share of GDP is hovvering well below pre-recession levels. A TUC briefing, Manufacturing in the balance suggests that our ‘foundation industries’, the productive heartland of UK manufacturing, are losing businesses and jobs at a…Read more…
Examining the reactions to our flagging GDP (a.k.a. the slowest recovery on record ever getting even slower)
A number of themes emerged in the different media commentaries on yesterday’s poor GDP results that are worth further examination: the idea expressed that the figures are highly uncertain and will be heavily revised; that weaker UK growth is in the context of ‘rising instability abroad’ (an…Read more…
New evidence nails the “no NHS privatisation” lie
The government habitually dismiss accusations of NHS privatisation. However a new analysis of NHS contracts produced by the NHS Support Federation shows how they will have to confront reality. Ministers say that very little NHS money goes to private co…Read more…
The slowest ever recovery slows down again
Quarterly GDP growth is estimated at only 0.3% in 2015 Q1, half the rate of 0.6% seen in both Q3 and Q4 of 2014, and only a third of the 0.9% growth seen a year ago in 2014 Q1. The median view of commentators was for 0.5%, and 0.3% coincided with the most pessimistic of those…
The post The…Read more…
Will working families lose most again if the Conservatives cut £12bn from welfare?
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is set to release analysis tomorrow looking at the £12bn of welfare cuts that the Conservatives are proposing. We know already who the favourite targets were for George Osborne, the Conservative Chancellor, and Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Work and Pensions…Read more…
Zero-hours contracts just the tip of the iceberg for low-paid and insecure jobs
While zero hour contracts have dominated the media headlines recently, short hour contracts, along with other forms of insecure work are also making the lives of many workers difficult. Our recent analysis shows that in addition to the 700,000 workers …Read more…
Pension governance committees stacked with industry insiders
When caught doing something you shouldn’t and given another chance, it is usually wise to reform your ways. However, it appears that large sections of the pensions industry are intent on ignoring this basic piece of common sense. Rules requiring independent governance committees to be established…Read more…