Today is “Democracy Day” the 750 anniversary of the first ever Parliament in Westminster. There was a fascinating debate on Radio 4 “Today” this morning which resulted in sparks between young and old about feelings of disenfranchisement and accusations…Read more…
Michael Gove’s ideological vandalism of the education system
Friday, January 10, 2014 In January 2014 I felt compelled to write an article criticising Michael Gove’s confirmation bias riddled historical revisionism, after he made a number of absurd…Read more…
New NHS Workers’ Strike:
NHS workers in England will be taking strike action on Thursday 29 January for 12 hours from 9am to 9pm in protest at the Government imposed pay freeze. Ambulance workers will take action 12 noon to…Read more…
£1billion a year essential for new flood defences
£1billion a year must be spent on flood defences over the next decade to cope with the rising threat of flooding, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and campaigners like Friends of the Earth. In a new initiative, they argue for an end to building new homes in flood-risk areas,…Read more…
Communists set scene for 2015:
RCPB(ML) Holds Social Setting the Course for 2015 The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) held a New Year Social on January 10 to which were invited Party activists, friends…Read more…
Can we make 2015 the year of good work?
What is a good company? This morning, the Co-operative Bank announced an update of its ethical policy based on responses from 74,000 customers and staff. As a result, the bank will not lend to companies involved in irresponsible gambling, payday lendin…Read more…
Solidarity with Charlotte Monro
http://www.unison.org.uk/unison-statement-re-charlotte-munro
Former Chair of Waltham Forest Health branch, Charlotte Monro, is in the employment tribunal this week pursuing her claim for unfair dismissal for having been dismissed for her trade union ac…Read more…
Global pressure forces withdrawal of Thai prison labour plans
Campaigning has paid off again. Last week I blogged about a campaign we’d joined to stop the Thai Government’s plans to force prisoners to work in the notorious Thai fishing industry….Read more…
Could the Greeks bring us gifts this Sunday?
This Sunday, the Greek people go to the polls in what must be one of the most important elections not just for Greece but for Europe as a whole. What is at stake is the future of democratic control of the economy, and the European establishment’s love affair with austerity. Nowhere in Europe…Read more…
Red Lines – How to start an Investment Governance Revolution
(this post was pulled in January since I didn’t realise that we had to wait until formal launch of Red Lines which took place yesterday. I will post further on this “revolutionary” proposal)
Picture is from last weeks workshop on “Red Lines” run joint…Read more…
Unite the rank and file in the UNISON NEC elections to reclaim the union
It’s commonplace on “the left” to remark that our trade union organising must be about more than just electing individuals to positions.
And of course it must.
What our union needs most of all is effective networking between activists to maximise suppo…Read more…
Speech: Cornwall Amal branch AGM
It is a privilege to be able to speak to you today. These are difficult times for the trade union and labour movement. In such times it is reassuring that branches like yours stay strong and active….Read more…
The attack on public services
There is no question that public service workers are still paying a heavy price for the recklessness of the bankers all those years agoRead more…
Are the improvements in the labour market recovery being overstated?
Employment levels may be rising to record levels; however, this is partly a result of the rising numbers in the working population. The employment rate at 73.0 per cent only recently returned to its pre-crisis peak; whereas the 6.0 per cent unemploymen…Read more…
Use your vote!
Mark Baker is president of ATL. 99% of ATL’s members cast their vote in this year’s National Presidential election! That would be a nice headline and I encourage everyone who can to make it…Read more…
Which side are you on…
A moving union song by the late and great Pete Seeger… “Will you be a lousy scab or will you be a man”. Read more…
Enfield Chase Walk (and where a Nazi Monster admitted his Guilt)
Today I went for my first country walk of 2015. Trent County Park in Enfield Chase, North London is a remnant of an ancient Royal hunting ground.
This pathfinder walk was only 4 miles (but we got lost and added another couple of miles I think). It was…Read more…
Standards-based voting
Just a quick point I think is worth developing. Many asset owners now use passive management for at least a sizeable chunk of their assets, usually equities in developed markets. This seems likely to grow due to a mixture of disillusionment with active…Read more…
What more will it take to get corporate courts out of the EU-US trade deal?
This week, the European Commission finally released the results of the consultation forced on it nearly a year ago about Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the EU-US trade deal. While …Read more…
IMF: looking on the bright side, or the ‘right side’?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) doesn’t have a fantastic reputation around the world for the damage it did to developing and Asian economies during the years of the neoliberal ‘Washington consensus’. Confessing to getting its analysis of the Greek economy catastrophically…Read more…