Commenting on today’s Queen’s Speech, Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey said, “Given the profound challenges facing this nation, it is staggering that a priority for this government is…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…
Fighting the battle of ideas
Richard Angell recalls the moves a couple of years ago to have Progress, the organisation he directs, excluded from the Labour Party. Ungenerously, he omits to record that Len McCluskey spoke…Read more…
ACT NOW! The next few days are vital for EU-US trade deal
On Thursday, the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (known as INTA) will vote on a series of amendments to a draft report on the EU-US trade deal TTIP (the Trans-Atlantic Trade…Read more…
Feeding the meter
More than half a million people struggling with debt have forcibly had prepay gas and electricity meters installed by their energy suppliers, a BBC investigation has found. Figures reveal that…Read more…
Housing sell off: ‘sheer stupidity’
David Cameron has confirmed that his right to buy extension to all housing association homes will now be part of the Queen’s Speech tomorrow (Wednesday May 27). The scheme, in effect, is…Read more…
Taking away workers’ rights will make Brexit more likely says TUC poll
As Nigel Stanley reported on Touchstone last week, we had an opinion poll in the field immediately after the election, to find out more about why people voted the way we did. We held a few of the…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…
Union members pay the cost of ISIS conquest of Ramadi
When ISIS takes over a city like Ramadi, near Baghdad in Iraq, the news bulletins are full of discussion about the future of Iraq, who’s to blame for the ISIS advance, how to reverse it and the…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…
Join the fight against union repression in Swaziland
This week Members of the European Parliament have condemned Africa’s last feudal dictatorship in Swaziland for its repression of trade union and human rights. One of the authors of their…Read more…
Doing our bit in Swaziland from Brussels
The Swazi people experience some of the most horrid living conditions on the planet. Under King Mswati II’s absolute rule, very low living standards have become even lower, very high AIDS/HIV prevalence has become even higher. Poverty is widespread, and the rule of law a distant ideal. We…Read more…
A room at The View
As Unite’s The View Hotel in Eastbourne completes major renovations—from its state-of-the-art conference facilities to a brand new restaurant and a new online booking service – your next summer…Read more…
If not now, when?
As talks between steel giant Tata and unions broke down over changes to members’ pensions scheme, Tata electrician Charlotte Upton, 25, spoke to UniteLive about the upcoming industrial action ballot…Read more…
Practice what you preach
The Church of Scotland is being urged to think again before ratifying a report which would break official links with Unite at its General Assembly in Edinburgh today (May 22). The Central…Read more…
Austerity doesn’t work
Earlier this week, the internationally renowned political scientist and author on world debt Susan George, addressed, the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) conference. Ahead of the…Read more…
UK poverty hits millions
The stark situation for many millions of Britons facing poverty has been outlined by new data from the office for national statistics (ONS). Staggeringly under the last Tory-led government…Read more…
Live from the Tata talks
Just as the Tata talks ended yesterday (May 22) UNITElive reporter Rae Passfield spoke with Unite national officer for steel Paul Reuter about the latest on the proposed changes to Tata Steel…Read more…
This flagrant disregard
Reps from unions including Unite, the GMB, and Community left a meeting with Tata Steel company representatives yesterday (May 21) bitterly disappointed. In a joint statement, the unions said…Read more…