There has been much discussion in the wake of the disastrous general election result about the future direction of our party. A full and frank conversation must take place, involving all parts of our…Read more…
Scotland: Setting the record straight
In a few weeks’ time, Jim Murphy will submit his ideas on how to revive Labour’s fortunes in Scotland. He will then leave the office of leader of the party in Scotland and a debate on his…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…
TTIP – European Parliament fight moves on
The international trade committee of the European Parliament (known as INTA) adopted a report yesterday on the controversial EU-US trade deal known as TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade & Investment…Read more…
Labour needs trade union allies
Over my long life I have been many things: As a lad I was a child labourer who lived in cheap doss houses with my parents who had been made destitute by the Great Depression. As a young man, I…Read more…
“Height of insanity”
The Tories’ latest right-to-buy housing scheme will spell disaster for London’s already beleaguered housing market. A key part of the Conservative manifesto, extending right-to-buy to housing…Read more…
EU: why Labour has to say yes
With a majority Conservative government that is slim and therefore vulnerable, and a government programme that a Guardian editorial this week described as ‘rag bag’, members in both Houses will be…Read more…
Racism and bullying revealed
Allegations of sexual abuse in the Methodist Church – and now racism and bullying could also be rife, Unite revealed today (May 28). Unite, which includes the 2,500-strong faith workers’…Read more…
The seven deadly bills
The Tories may have run a vague and convoluted election campaign, but now that they’re in with a wafer-thin majority, prime minister David Cameron laid out his policy plans yesterday (May 28) , as…Read more…
Bash, slash, cut and freeze
Bash the unions, slash welfare spending, cut benefits for the young, freeze in-work benefits and add a generous helping of deep austerity cuts. The Queen’s Speech shows the Tories are nasty again….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…
Syriza’s struggle is our struggle
The Greek Syriza government is still locked in crisis negotiations with ‘the group formerly known as the Troika’ (the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission) over releasing…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…
Tory ‘toothless’ hours law
A key coalition government measure came into force on Tuesday (May 26) – the banning of exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts. Now, employers cannot block workers who are on the…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…
The trade agreement that threatens our safety.
Last year I wrote about the dangers to health and safety from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) where the European Commission and US Government want to reduce “barriers” to…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…
Hanging in the balance
The future of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) hangs in the balance as the new Scottish government look at the option of scrapping it yet again in a consultation set to close at the end…Read more…