We should not get too carried away by the Treasury’s claimed improvement in the public finances. Borrowing in the current financial year to date (April to June) is £25.1bn, down from £31.3bn in the same period of 2014-15. This indeed amounts to a gain of £6bn, but: 1. this gain over one quarter is…Read more…
Greek People’s Courageous Resistance:
Greece Is Suffering Under Austerity and Big Power Dictate Greek people celebrate the NO! victory as referendum results come in July 5, 2015. Europe is in crisis. The European economy of the…Read more…
The rights of all workers are under attack – we need a broad civil society coalition to help us protect them
The right to strike is a fundamental human right, recognised across the democratic world. It has played a crucial role in helping people at work – whether they are in a union or not – to secure…Read more…
Life as a Home Carer in Modern Britain
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#ImInWorkJeremy
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has been slammed for his out of touch approach to the NHS. Not only was he the man who vetoed a paltry 1 per cent pay rise by the pay review body meaning nurses…Read more…
‘Special’ solidarity
Speaking to Unite Community coordinator Dave Condliffe on this dreary Monday morning it was clear that he was one person who definitely didn’t have the Monday blues. Dave was still buoyed up…Read more…
NHS – safe in Tory hands?
Tory health secretary Jeremy Hunt launched a 25-year plan for the NHS but failed to mention how he would fill a £822m hole in NHS finances. He also failed to address how he was going to lift morale…Read more…
The problem with Bernie Sanders
The Bernie Sanders campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is probably the most exciting development in US politics since the 1930s. And it’s not a coincidence that both the…Read more…
What does austerity mean?
“What is austerity?” was one of the most common Google searches during the televised leaders’ debate during the general election campaign in May. To many, public finances appear as a stream of disconnected data, huge numbers and percentages trotted out during budgets and spending reviews that seem…Read more…
Defending workers’ rights defenders: Andy Hall in Thailand
I’ve blogged several times over the years about the harassment of British workers’ rights advocate Andy Hall, who faces a number of charges – some with terrifying jail terms or…Read more…
100th anniversary of my Grandfather arriving at Gallipoli
According to this history of the “Hawke Battalion” Royal Naval Divison (RDN) by Douglas Jerrold, my Grandfather ( Taid in Welsh) Sub-lieutenant, Frederick Matthews, first joined them on active service a 100 years ago yesterday on 18 July 1915.
The Ba…Read more…
World conference on funding development: much ado about little
The Third International Conference for Financing for Development ended on 16 July in Ethiopia’s capital with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA). The four-day event was organised by the UN in collaboration with the World Bank, IMF and developed and developing nations. It had, according to…Read more…
Don’t let Netanyahu finish Iran nuke deal. Instead make it the start
NETANYAHU scare tactic misfired. So will he try again?
THE international agreement under which the Iranian government renounces the production of nuclear weapons and allows international…Read more…
How banks are ripping off Councils and what to do about it
This post was published on LabourList today. Tomorrow (20 July 2015) at 4pm the Select Community on Communities Local Government will hear evidence from the Channel 4 Despatches programme and their expert witnesses.
“This article is written by Cl…Read more…
At the summit: fans keen to support FIFA reform
The fans got stuck in to our panel at the football Supporters’ Summit today, where the Football Supporters’ Federation had invited the TUC’s Playfair Qatar to talk about FIFA reform…Read more…
At the summit
There wasn’t time to answer all the questions from the floor. The fans got stuck in to our panel at the football Supporters’ Summit, where the Football Supporters’ Federation had…Read more…
The first shot in the war on trade unionism
I go on leave for a week to enjoy the sunshine in Sussex and the Government introduces draconian restrictions on the rights of workers to organise and take action as trade unionists (in the Trade Union Bill).This isn’t quite the existential threat to trade unionism itself which many of us continue…Read more…
Workers’ Capital in the Twenty-First Century
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Scotland after socialism?
Beneath the EU’s affront to democracy in Greece there is still the debate about whether Syriza reflects a shift to the left or whether it is just a singular reaction to a single issue…Read more…
Coca-Cola backs global union call for an independent review of FIFA
The global trade union movement’s campaign for workers’ rights to be a key element of mega-sporting events is often obscured by the cesspit that is FIFA. Migrant construction workers…Read more…