UNISON is asking members to lobby their MPs ahead of crucial debate
The article Help stop the illegal underpayment of homecare workers first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
Lords inflict serious blow to the Trade Union Bill
Peers vote for three key changes to the government’s damaging trade union reforms
The article Lords inflict serious blow to the Trade Union Bill first appeared on the UNISON site.Read more…
UNCTAD calls for investment agreements to uphold labour rights and democracy
Yesterday I spoke at the United Nations Conference on Development (UNCTAD) meeting ‘Taking stock of international investment agreement reform’ which looked at the options for reform to investment protections such as ISDS that are currently used in international investment agreements…Read more…
The Programme that Emerges from the Conditions.
What is inherent in the present conditions and the aim which is consistent with those conditions? What is the work in this period which has to be taken up in a very determined fashion? It is that…Read more…
Triple whammy defeat for government over Trade Union Bill, says TUC
The government was defeated in three votes on the Trade Union Bill in the House of Lords tonight (Wednesday). The votes concerned substantial amendments to the bill on electronic balloting, facility…Read more…
Mary Locke for Bournville (and Birmingham City Council)
The picture collage is from Saturday when I went to Bournville in Birmingham to help campaign for UNISON NEC member and NHS worker, Mary Locke, who is standing to be a local Ward councillor in the May 5 elections.
Yes, Bournville is the home of the Ca…Read more…
Triple whammy defeat for government over #TUbill
Members of the House of Lords voted to defeat the government three times inside three hours tonight during the report stage debate for the trade union bill. The votes concerned substantial amendments to the bill over electronic balloting for strike vot…Read more…
Spare us the cutter
Unite has slammed Chancellor George Osborne’s budget as a failed opportunity from a “one trick Chancellor” – that trick being to cut – because he refuses to take action that would grow our economy….Read more…
Budget 2016 – All that you would expect from a Tory budget
It is a typical Tory budget. There is plenty of middle class welfare at the expense of workers and the disabled, together with further cuts to public spending. I take a look at the elements that most…Read more…
#Budget2016: Pensions freedom tax boost for Treasury but what now for the workplace pension?
For the Chancellor, it was one bit of fiscal news to cheer in a Budget of downward revisions, cuts and slices. The Treasury has netted £200 million more than expected in tax from pension fund withdrawals after dramatically loosening restrictions in April.
The post #Budget2016: Pensions freedom tax…Read more…
#Budget2016 arithmetic made simple: the madness of George’s surplus rule
The Chancellor has broken his welfare cap. He bust his debt rule (again). The great part of the policy action seems to have been about making sure it wasn’t a full house of broken rules. Because of the significantly weaker economy, government revenues were down by an average of around £10bn a year…Read more…
What are the Lords debating on trade union political funds?
While the big news today has been the Budget, debate has also been taking place in the Lords, where the first Trade Union Bill report stage debate is underway. Among the issues the Lords are debating are amendments which would implement the recommendations from the Lords Select Committee on Trade…Read more…
#Budget2016: What’s behind the changes to business taxation?
George Osborne has cut corporation tax again. In 2020, the rate will go down to 17% – lower than the basic rate of income tax. Given the extent of the cuts being meted out to welfare spending and local government services, this choice – forecast to cost nearly £1 billion when it comes in…Read more…
Schools take centre stage in #Budget2016
As trailed in yesterday’s press, a centrepiece of the Budget is a move to make every school in England an academy and to strip local authorities of their long-standing role in education. The signs were there that this was on the cards with the Times reporting earlier this month that there would be…Read more…
Toughen up on Chinese steel call
The UK government will leave itself open to accusations of ‘selling British steel down the river’ if it continues to block moves announced today (March 16) to tackle the dumping of cheap Chinese…Read more…
Broken ‘covenant’
At the height of the financial crisis, the Royal Bank of Scotland came under the auspices of taxpayers and received a bailout of £45bn. Since then, the bank’s implicit covenant with taxpayers…Read more…
Altering tax thresholds is an expensive way to aid the well-paid
The chancellor has promised measures to increase the personal tax allowance (PTA) for low-paid workers (the amount they can earn in a year before being liable for tax) also the higher rate threshold (HRT) (the point beyond which tax increases to 40%). …Read more…
Update: #Budget2016 is much better for the better off
Quick update Earlier today I discussed the costs and benefits of the Chancellor’s plans to increase the personal tax allowance (PTA) to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold (HRT) to £50,000 by 2020 (Spoiler alert: the costs are high and the benefits are scant). Today the Chancellor took a…Read more…
Extra funding for flood defences welcome but don’t forget staff on the ground, says UNISON
Welcoming the Chancellor’s decision to increase tax insurance to pay for flood defences, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “More funding for flood defences should help save people the pain…Read more…
#Budget2016: Women and low income households again bearing the brunt of austerity
Last weekend the Women’s Budget Group published a cumulative assessment of ten years of austerity, covering both the Coalition government (2010-15) and the policies announced thus far by the Conservative government that took office in May 2015. The findings of the research could not have been…Read more…