I have a lot of time for Andy Burnham. He’s from Liverpool, I’m from Liverpool. He supports Everton, so do I. supports Everton, so do I. I feel like I know him. So I was sad and disappointed when I…Read more…
If you mean it, put it in writing: unions to Cameron on NHS & #TTIP
At Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, David Cameron repeated – yet again – his claim that we should trust him that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP – the EU-US trade deal) would have no impact on the NHS. Under fire from Labour Leader Harriet…Read more…
Cameron must come clean about his plans to renegotiate our rights from Europe
When he was asked during Prime Minster’s Questions today about his plans for re-negotiating rights for working people set out originally under the European Social Chapter, David Cameron gave the ominous answer that it would include: “some of the issues under what was called the social…Read more…
Workers are wealth creators too – Give them a fairer deal
Good reputations are hard to build and all too easy to lose. Of course business isn’t the only institution in Britain facing a crisis of trust. But unlike others, business can end up paying a high price in lost profit, productivity and jobs. Unions argue that no one has a greater interest in the…Read more…
Budget surplus target plays politics with economic growth
Is it possible that anybody thinks the budget surplus law apparently to be announced in the Mansion House speech is about anything other than politics? It’s definitely stupid economics. Inevitably spending was higher and taxes were lower in the UK after the financial crash, and we had a small…Read more…
“Government should put us on track for a low-carbon world.”
Business Green is running an online poll showing that 84 per cent of respondents believe that the low carbon economy “will not prosper under a Conservative government.” Such anxieties may help explain why, so early in this administration, 80 businesses have paid for a full page letter in the FT….Read more…
Opening salvo in latest battle
Within 72 hours of the Tories forming a majority in Parliament it became crystal clear they were salivating at the opportunity to further impose their political austerity agenda for another five…Read more…
Home threat hotspots
New research from the Ministry of Justice shows that more than 8,300 people face losing their home every week in England. Londoners face the highest risk of losing their home because of…Read more…
#TTIP vote postponed: blow to G7 hopes of an early EU-US trade deal
This afternoon, we heard that the votes in the European Parliament due for Wednesday lunchtime on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) had been postponed. Various reasons for the postponement have been given, and there are different explanations of what the postponement means…Read more…
Graduates’ pay still lower than seven years ago
This morning the government released the quarterly Graduate Labour Market Statistics for England, which allow us to look at post-graduate, graduate and non-graduate employment rates and salaries since 2006. You wouldn’t know it from the government’s spin, but graduate pay has been slipping for two…Read more…
Surrey buses: strike action suspended
Over 100 bus workers working for Abellio Surrey have suspended strike action following a breakthrough in talks at the conciliation service Acas, Unite announced today (June 9). The drivers had…Read more…
Update: Vital TTIP vote postponed
UPDATE [09/06, 16:23]: The European Parliament debate and vote has been postponed due to more than 200 amendments being tabled. Campaigners have said this indicates that mounting public pressure…Read more…
G7 starts to address workplace safety
Although most of the publicity around the G7 Summit in Germany has been around the relationship with Russia and the problems in the Middle East, there have been a lot of other discussions taking…Read more…
Paying for others’ mistakes
The announcement by HSBC that up to 8,000 UK jobs are to be cut from the bank by 2017, is the latest example of the workforce being punished for the misconduct of senior and investment bankers says…Read more…
#TTIP: What MEPs will be voting on this Wednesday
This Wednesday, the European Parliament will vote on what message to send to the negotiators of the EU-US trade and investment deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). They won’t (yet) be voting on whether to accept the deal, partly because the vast bulk of it…Read more…
Honour your agreements
Unite confirmed today (June 8) that they will be entering into talks at the conciliation service Acas with bus company Abellio Surrey in a bid to avert strike action in a dispute over terms and…Read more…
Breaking: steel strike on
Steel unions have agreed Monday, June 22, as the date for strike action at Tata Steel in their ongoing dispute over pensions. The strike action will be preceded by action short of strike action…Read more…
‘On the level with asbestos’
Unite has blown the lid off the dangers cabin crew members face being exposed to toxic air – a scandal that’s being compared to asbestos exposure. This morning (June 8) on the Victoria…Read more…
Allowing students to find their passion changes everything
Students at Springwell Learning Community experience a personalised and engaging curriculum that succeeds in both promoting a love of literature and development of empathy and social understanding….Read more…
The Chancellor bemoans Labour’s household debt record, but official figures show the pace of borrowing rising rapidly and debt on his watch likely to hit an all-time high
In the Independent today, James Moore reported Frances O’Grady’s remarks on household debt. These followed the Queen’s Speech economy debate last week, when Tory backbencher Mark Garnier attacked Labour’s record: “Does the Chancellor agree that the £1 trillion rise in household debt…Read more…