Once again, a hard Brexiter has let the mask slip on workers’ rights. Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Lord Harris – a multi-millionaire, retail tycoon and Tory peer – claimed that Brexit would ‘give younger people more opportunity’ because they could work longer hours in his shops….Read more…
Govt to rob from lowest earners
Low-paid self-employed workers face a massive tax increase in April, which threatens to see many of those on the very lowest incomes in the economy fall through the cracks. Even though the…Read more…
‘Pushed into debt’
Nearly a fifth people struggling with debts have had their credit card limit automatically increased, a figure higher than for regular cardholders, new research shows. Citizens Advice found 18…Read more…
Divided Scotland
Picture it if you will. You are at a huge wedding reception and 100 guests are assembled in the hotel gardens sipping the Prosecco on offer. The hotel staff wheel out the wedding cake. It is set out…Read more…
What’s going on in the economy? Five key charts for September
It’s been a challenging summer for the UK economy with growth slowing, demand declining, business investment stalling and the UK’s balance of trade deteriorating. In happier news employment levels are at a record high, although real wages have continued to decline. So what’s going on in the…Read more…
Umbrella company ‘rip-off’
Unite has called on the NHS to outlaw umbrella companies operating throughout the organisation. In April this year, the government introduced new rules which effectively outlawed agency…Read more…
Crane strike
Widespread disruption of construction sites across the UK is anticipated after Unite announced the first strike date at tower crane company HTC Wolffkran, in a dispute over pay. The initial…Read more…
Workers first
Unite has welcomed Labour’s announcement that it supports staying in the EU single market after the Brexit negotiations have finished. The policy would avoid a damaging economic cliff edge once…Read more…
Watered down
In the UK today, it takes a typical chief executive three days to earn what their employees earn in an entire year. Rising pay inequality has become front and centre in an ongoing national…Read more…
Brave new world?
Receiving a parcel on your doorstep from Amazon or any of the number of online retailers often disguises what’s going on behind the scenes where your order is processed. But a quiet revolution…Read more…
Beholden to fat cats
Tory donors gave the Conservative’s £25m – more than double the £9.5m Labour received – before this year’s general election and the party still lost 13 MPs. Donor lists released by the…Read more…
Over-regulation is not the problem a post-Brexit Britain would face
Yesterday’s report The Economy After Brexit by Economists For Brexit includes a section by Tim Congdon on EU regulation, essentially blaming all the evils of the British economy on excessive red tape and inferring that our economy could do so much better if it were unshackled from it all. The…Read more…
‘Economists for free trade’ contradicted by today’s GDP data
In a provocative piece this week (‘From Project Fear to Project Prosperity’), Professor Patrick Minford made a number of claims about the post-referendum economy. Apparently “the devaluation brought on by Brexit is acting as a powerful stimulus to the economy …”. Here’s how: … switching demand away…Read more…
First ever strike
Catering staff working for Baxterstorey at the Fawley oil refinery canteen in Hampshire are set to strike for the first time tomorrow (August 25) in a dispute over a below inflation 1.5 per cent pay…Read more…
Grant leads health visitors
Unite has warmly welcomed the appointment of broadcaster and presenter Carrie Grant as the new President of the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association (CPHVA). The CPHVA is…Read more…
Fair Fringe win
Edinburgh City Council has today (August 24) backed the Fair Fringe campaign, which will see the living wage and minimum hour contracts introduced at all Council-run venues including the Assembly…Read more…
‘Bogus apprenticeships’
School leavers receiving their GCSE results today (August 24) are looking forward to what the future holds in store. Unfortunately many young people are served a raw deal after they finish…Read more…
‘Dickensian disgrace’
Hairdressers were among the worst culprits in illegally failing to pay their workers the minimum wage in Scotland. In total, 19 companies in Scotland were ‘named and shamed’ by the government…Read more…
Low pay nation
The shocking extent to which low pay has gripped the entire country was laid bare today (August 24) in new figures published by the Labour Party. The analysis of workers in the UK earning less…Read more…
‘No signs of ending’
Every week more than ten high street bank branches close across the UK. According to research from consumer group Which? more than 550 branches are to be shut this year alone. More than…Read more…