The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn summed up Philip Hammond, the Chancellor’s first and last spring budget – it was a budget that was complacent and out of touch he said. He could also have…Read more…
The ‘failure Budget’
Chancellor Philip Hammond brushed Brexit under the carpet as he laid out the last Spring Budget today, delivering paltry policies that will do nothing to alleviate austerity, low wages or job…Read more…
#Budget2017: Boost for technical skills funding
As with much of the Budget, the package of skills measures contained few surprises as the various announcements had been trailed extensively beforehand. Nevertheless, there is much to welcome in the Budget on technical education and skills, in particul…Read more…
Under pressure
Today on International Women’s Day (March 8), much is made of the overall pay gap between men and women in the UK – now standing stubbornly high at 19 per cent. But what’s not as often talked…Read more…
Barclays closure slammed
Unite has today (March 8) condemned Barclays Bank for the announcement of the closure of their mortgage centre in Llanishen, Cardiff with the loss of over 180 jobs. The centre will close by the end…Read more…
AWE dispute ramps up
Angry workers at AWE plc – the Atomic Weapons Establishment – are ramping up their long-running pensions’ dispute with eight more days of strike action this spring. Unite, which represents…Read more…
#Budget2017: Self-employment tax changes
Increases in taxation of self-employment may raise more money for the exchequer but will do little to clamp down on bad employers who force staff into bogus self-employment to lower their tax bill Today’s standout Budget measure was the increase in the tax paid by the self-employed, with the rate…Read more…
Honouring the legacy of trade unionist Mary Macarthur
On Tuesday 7 March 2017, on the eve of International Women’s Day, the Mary Macarthur Plaque was unveiled on the site of her Golders Green home. Mary Macarthur was a Scottish woman, trade…Read more…
#Budget2017: Zero out of four
Yesterday we set the Chancellor four tests for whether his Budget would deliver for working people. Today we have no good news to report. This wasn’t a budget for living standards, it didn’t give the British economy the investment it needs to see us through the uncertainty of Brexit, and public…Read more…
Public service workers are “the forgotten part of the ‘jam’ generation”, says UNISON
Commenting on the Spring Budget today (Wednesday) UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: On pay “For almost a decade nurses, teaching assistants, town hall staff and others in the public sector…Read more…
An ‘extraordinary Budget’
The budget lacked the ambition and action to equip the nation for the challenges of Brexit, Unite said today (Wednesday March 8). Responding to Chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget, Unite…Read more…
#Budget2017: Pensions freedom liberates cash straight into the Treasury
Paperwork released with the Budget has revealed what an astonishing short-term money spinner so-called “pensions freedom” has been for the Treasury – and hinted at what a disaster it might prove for our ability to provide for old age. Originally announced in Budget 2014, pensions…Read more…
We won’t be silenced
On October 31 2016 Amber Rudd, home secretary, made an announcement that sent shockwaves through the mining community – there was to be no enquiry into the violent policing at the Battle of Orgreave….Read more…
Do you know an outstanding healthcare assistant?
Nominations are open for the UNISON-sponsored Jean Atkinson award for outstanding healthcare assistant (closing date 31 March)
The article Do you know an outstanding healthcare assistant? first…Read more…
Culture change call
As people in the UK and the world over celebrate International Women’s Day today (March 8), Unite, the country’s largest construction union, will launch its Women in Construction Network on the first…Read more…
Wake up to what women need
As the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, gets ready to deliver his Budget today, he would do well to remember the 47 per cent. That’s the proportion of women in the UK workforce. With this year’s…Read more…
New institutions needed to address concerns about migration
The Government has decided that ‘taking back control’ of the UK’s borders is more important than anything else, more important in particular than working people’s jobs and living standards. Even if immigration numbers don’t actually come down as a result, the…Read more…
Unite urges members to sound the alarm if jobs threatened by #Brexit
Unite has launched a new website to make sure its members are kept informed about what’s happening about Brexit, an online resource dedicated to bringing the news, views, facts and analysis on…Read more…
Women pension losers to lobby MPs on International Women’s Day, says UNISON
Women born in the 1950s who lost out on their state pension when the government made retirement age 65 for both men and women are lobbying MPs later today (Wednesday). The changes introduced in 1995…Read more…
OPINION: Community Links life-president Kevin Jenkins wonders how Newham can maintain services on a council tax freeze
This article was in last weeks local Newspaper, the “Newham Recorder”. I have had no contact with Kevin about this but it would appear that this highly respected former senior Councillor shares some of my my concerns about the recent budget.
“On…Read more…