There was solid support for the London Underground stoppage today (July 9) among members of Unite, who were on strike in a dispute over the introduction of all-night Tube services from September….Read more…
The Budget of deception and despair
It is an austerity budget full of deception – thousands taken from the poorest, tens of thousands given to the richest, more tax cuts for businesses and a savage battering of the young. The…Read more…
Solidarity in action
In 1973, John Keenan, Robert Somerville and Bob Fulton, three Unite members took a stand against a coup on the other side of the world. They refused to help Pinochet bomb the people of Chile. …Read more…
Budget aftershock: Osborne’s £3.9 billion tax on green power
The Chancellor’s £3.9 billion tax on renewable energy generators “is a punitive measure for the clean energy sector…another example of this Government’s unfair, illogical and obsessive attacks on renewables.” Renewable electricity will no longer be exempt from the Climate Change Levy…Read more…
Budget: Insult to NHS staff
Today George Osborne announced that I and my NHS colleagues will face another four years of restricted pay. It is an absolute insult to the passionate healthcare staff who work in the NHS….Read more…
Banks back to ‘dark ages’?
Following yesterday’s Budget (July 8), Unite warned George Osborne that his plan to scrap the bank levy shows the Tory government are ditching their responsibility to bring order to the…Read more…
We won’t let them destroy us
Young members in Unite have condemned yesterday’s Tory Budget following what we believe to be an assault on young people by the Chancellor. George Osbourne has committed to ending university…Read more…
European Parliament view on EU-US trade deal
The European Parliament has finally voted on its resolution about the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership, or TTIP, the EU-US trade deal being negotiated by Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and US Trade Representative Mike Froman. Most of the news yesterday was about a compromise over…Read more…
Where were the measures to address the continuing housing shortage?
Today the Chancellor made a number of announcements in relation to housing, primarily in relation to people claiming benefits for social housing. Young people in particular will suffer as the government are abolishing the automatic entitlement for youn…Read more…
The poison politics of failed deficit reduction #summerbudget2015
Five years ago, the Chancellor set out policies to bring the public finances back under control. On the basis of any definition, these policies failed. Deficit reduction proceeded greatly slower than planned; public sector debt rose even higher than ex…Read more…
Not a workers’ budget
Massive and unfair cuts in tax credits and benefits are going to hit low-paid workers. Can the Chancellor hope to justify his claim that this is a “one nation Budget”? The key to any Budget is how it answers the question who gains and who loses? The big picture is explained well in the…Read more…
Born in the 90s? Then this Budget is not for you
“This is a one nation Budget,” announced the Chancellor in his introduction to today’s Budget, before announcing reforms that exclude under 25s from higher pay and 18-21 year olds from housing benefit, scrapping maintenance grants for students, and permitting elite (“high-quality teaching”)…Read more…
Annuity resales – at last someone in government has found the brake pedal
After a headlong rush into so-called pensions freedom, someone responsible for pensions policy in government appears to have found the brake pedal. Tucked away in the Budget announcements was the news that attempts to launch a secondary annuity market …Read more…
Northern Puzzlehouse: how exactly will it drive up productivity?
Although the Chancellor said today, “We will be bold in delivering the Northern Powerhouse,” he had little to add on his big, unifying idea of “connectivity.” The theory (that I’ve not been able to track down to its evidence base) is that “a transformation in connections between the great cities of…Read more…
National Living Wage – good news, but some important questions
George Osborne announced today that the government would introduce a new National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and above, to apply from April 2016 onwards (Budget Report, p32, Para 1.121). This will take the form of an initial 50p supplement to the existing adult rate National…Read more…
What is a bird-in-the-bush worth to pension savers?
It’s a hard sale to make. “See that bird in your hand? Well I am taking it away. But don’t worry – in 50 years time you will get two, actually make that one, pecking around over there in the bush.” This is the scenario the Treasury is effectively exploring with its…Read more…
‘Step forward’ for fair employment
Unite today (July 8) welcomed new arrangements with North Ayrshire Council (NAC) to improve the rights of casual workers across the local authority’s operations, calling the agreement a step forward…Read more…
Budget ‘will punish millions’
George Osborne’s budget risks taking Britain backwards with further austerity and fails to realise the government’s ambition of boosting productivity, Unite warned today (Wednesday July 8). …Read more…
A plan for working people that leaves them worse off (on the basis of the OBR figures)
There is a lot to absorb in this astonishing budget where those who have suffered most in the recession appear to be paying most for a partial ending of austerity. But in spite of the claimed ‘plan for working people’, it appears that the OBR think households will end up worse not better…Read more…
Summer Budget 2015 has little to say on industrial policy
The headlines from today’s Budget are pretty clear to see: the National Living Wage, an apprenticeship levy for large employers, a further squeeze on benefits. There is little to say on industrial policy and whilst today’s Budget can be viewed as a statement about big themes, concerns that the…Read more…