Looking at GDP per head, the UK economy grew by 5 per cent between 2009 and 2014. Previously, the slowest recovery on a per head basis was from 1886 to 1901, when the economy grew by 10 per cent: twice as fast. The average recovery speed over five years for previous major recessions is 13.7…Read more…
Churchill and the Commemoration of the End of the Second World War
Yalta Summit, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin On January 30 commemorative events were organised throughout the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill, who is most…Read more…
What kind of Growth?
Capitalist growth usually means growth in consumer products but it also contains production of the means of production such as factories and machinery. Parasitical growth these days is usually in the…Read more…
Newham Councillors on route to 7 Rifles
This picture is from this morning, just before the 8 of us went off to join our local British Army Reservists – G Company, 7 Rifles in Salisbury Plain.
We got back this evening after a great day with G Company. I will write up a full post tomorrow but…Read more…
UNISON Scotland Communications Awards results
The judges this year were Danny Phillips, Communications Officer, Jane
Carolan NEC and John Stevenson, Chair of the committee. They found the awards enormously difficult to judge.
So difficult that the judges couldn’t agree and for some categories we had to
go to that thing we don’t tend to do much in Scotland – A vote!
This was because the difference between the entries was so close withRead more…
Our Communities, Our Public Services – The Rights of All Must Be Defended!
Public sector strike, Newcastle, July 2014 On Saturday, February 7, a demonstration organised by the Public Services Alliance (PSA) is taking place in Gateshead from West Street to a rally at the…Read more…
Does it matter which union is the ‘largest’?
Inter union rivalry has been a negative characteristic of British trade unionism for more than a century. The highly unionised teaching profession is strongly contested by 3 TUC affiliated unions and…Read more…
A Prayer for the Loners by Keith Armstrong
The dejected men,
the lone voices,
slip away
in this seaside rain.
Their words shudder to a standstill
in dismal corners.
Frightened to shout,
they cower
behind quivering faces.
No one…Read more…
UNISON London LGBT “Equality at Work” Labour Link event at House of Commons
This great picture is from last weeks London UNISON LGBT “Equality at Work” mobilisation event at Portcullis House. I chaired the meeting on behalf of London Labour Link. Margret Hodge MP and Stephen Twigg MP were the guest speakers and reminded us tha…Read more…
MG Rover workers still owed a payout years after this sorry saga
MG Rover workers leaving Longbridge in 2005 after learning of the collapse of the carmaker The Phoenix Four should still do the right thing. By directing the proceeds of the Deloitte fine to former…Read more…
Whatever Happened To Collective Bargaining?
Osborne’s pre-crash economy: riding high on booming property
Approaching half of the growth in the UK economy in 2014 was driven by industries related to the booming property market and the outsourcing of public services (in green); with manufacturing accounting for only eight per cent of growth, this is hardly the ‘march of the makers’; on the other hand,…Read more…
It’s Not Just About Books: The Golden Thread of Libraries. National Libraries Day Saturday 7th February.
That libraries are not just about loaning books is a fact clearly recognised in the recent Independent Library Report for England, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media and…Read more…
Parents: If you want to improve turnouts get your kids to the ballot!
2,400 or so years ago an ancient Greek, possibly the philosopher Socrates, said: “Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they…Read more…
Meddler on the Roof
SINGING from the same…er hymn sheet? Or getting another report on Tower Hamlets? Eric Pickles, here with Home Secretary Theresa May, is Minister for Communities and Faith. So will he put…Read more…
Chevron challenged by unions over Gorgon claims
Chevron is telling analysts that everything is under control on the Gorgon LNG projects, despite costs ballooning and it being late. The ITF and MUA have challenged the company to come clean.
ITF: ‘Time For an Honest Conversation from Chevron’The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)…Read more…
Comment in Metro.co.uk: What does the BT buy-out of EE mean for the mobile phone market?
Published in today’s Metro.co.uk If you’re a mobile, pay-tv or phone customer, the current spate of takeovers, mergers, launches and service-sharing is pretty confusing – but what does it mean…Read more…
The fathers who are missing out on better leave and pay rights
In around 50 days’ time, working parents will have access to the new system of shared parental leave that allows women to share up to 50 weeks of their maternity leave and 37 weeks’ pay with their partner. The opportunity it will give some fathers to take time off work to spend with their…Read more…
Saving Our Safety Net Fact of the Week: 85 per cent of tax and benefit “savings” have been at the expense of women
Yesterday the Independent Inquiry Into Women and Jobseeker’s Allowance published Where’s the Benefit. Chaired by Amanda Ariss of the Equality and Diversity Forum and co-ordinated by the Fawcett Society, the Inquiry reported important findings about how JSA indirectly discriminates against women….Read more…
John Gray? Common as muck
Today is National voter registration Day.
The Labour Party has sent out this on line tool that will work out how many people registered to vote have the same name as you.
Check out http://action.labour.org.uk/how-many-of-me-in-britain
1,346…Read more…