The UK could very well join the US in being the only developed countries in the world that don’t offer statutory maternity pay, if the Tories emerge victorious on May 8. Work and pensions…Read more…
Maternal death risk rise
The UK has failed to make the top 10 for safest country to give birth in for the third year in a row, the annual State Of The World’s Mothers report has found. According to the study by…Read more…
Who will be top of the chops?
Which prominent members of the coalition could be getting the chop on Thursday? Top of those at risk are Tory Esther McVey, minister for welfare sanctions. But possibly in line for a Portillo…Read more…
Ten Reasons to Vote
The election campaign is coming to an end, and it’s time to mark your ballot. We’ve put together ten big issues which can be changed by the next government, and should give you reason to get out and vote. But first the practicalities… If you’ve registered to vote (yes, if…Read more…
How many hours should parents be expected to work?
How many hours should parents be expected to work in order not to be poor? New research published last week by Child Poverty Action Group explores this tricky question. Round the clock: In work poverty and the ‘hours question’ recognises from the outset that there are multiple factors which shape…Read more…
Local votes count too
Unquestionably the focus this Thursday will be on the knife-edge general election long predicted by pollsters. However it’s worth remembering that around England a series of local elections…Read more…
ConDem nation
They’ve hurt us – plain and simple. Since the ConDem Coalition came in they’ve tried to sell off the NHS while running it into the ground. Legal aid has been slashed, university tuition fees…Read more…
The case for an Independent Pensions Commission
This is my contribution to an NAPF publication on the need for an Independent Pensions Commission. I argue that this is not “taking the politics out of pensions” – an absurdly impossible task – but rather a chance to bring social partnership to another field of policy…Read more…
Counting the cost of austerity for councils and communities
The Austerity Audit, published today by UNISON details the damage caused by the unprecedented squeeze on funding that has had such a dramatic impact on local council services in England and the people that provide them. The government has already cut the funding to local councils by £12.5bn or 37%…Read more…
Education has remained in the shadows of the election debates
And here’s another thing… Our new weekly blog by ATL general secretary Mary Bousted. Education policy has not been a prominent feature of the election campaign. Political parties have vied for the…Read more…
Inaction Replay: Qatar Reannounces Unkept Promise
It’s a strange tactic to take the anniversary of a promise you didn’t keep to make exactly the same promise. One year ago, with great fanfare, Qatar’s government promised the world…Read more…
Growing scourge of hunger
Food bank use in austerity Britain has skyrocketed under the coalition government – this is a fact widely reported in the media, as well as here on UniteLive. Full Fact, an organisation that…Read more…
Ed is the real deal
You might be forgiven for thinking that celebrities would vote Conservative given that they are up there with the country’s top earners, paying the highest tax. However many celebrities from…Read more…
Stop diluting workers’ rights
“I really do believe in fairness and equality but you don’t get that by wishing for it,” says Jim Sheridan, who was first elected in 2001 and has lived locally for 35 years. “The closer the…Read more…
Total failure
Back in 2010, the ConDem government promised us the world. But did they deliver? To find out, we’ve drawn up a 10-point exam, which we’ve marked – the facts speak for themselves. So how…Read more…
Rise in assaults and self-harm in prisons, new Ministry of Justice statistics reveal
New Ministry of Justice statistics reveal that in the year up to December 2014 incidents of self-harm and assaults in prisons have increased significantly, revealing a system under serious strain where safety standards have plummeted. Most astonishing …Read more…
There’s a long road to true LGBT equality…
Pride in London has issued a call for politicians to support a pledge, a commitment to the steps needed “to make London the best LGBT+ city in the world”. The TUC warmly welcomes this, the first time that Pride in London has done anything like this.
The post There’s a long road to true LGBT…Read more…
Radical alternative for change
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey spoke to LBC Radio this evening (May 1), urging the British people to take stock of the enormously important decision facing the electorate on May 7. …Read more…
Rooted to hopes of working class
There’s a no-nonsense streak to Ian Davidson which can only be a strength on the doorstep during the cut and thrust of an election campaign. “The issues here are a lack of income and under…Read more…
In search of the impossible
Grand Central, a luxury development to be constructed on a derelict site in Cambridge, will only have eight affordable homes. This is in an area where over 2,000 people languish on council house…Read more…