It’s hard to work out what’s most ludicrous about this morning’s ‘news’ that Michael Gove and others claim that leaving the EU Customs Union would benefit Britain by £450 million a week and create 400,000 new jobs. My favourite is the claim that once we leave the EU we…Read more…
People and pensions: TUC conference puts focus on members
The coming year has the potential to see yet another overhaul of pensions saving. Virtually every aspect of the pensions system will come under scrutiny in the coming 12 months But through it all, it is vital that the focus is kept on the overriding po…Read more…
Voting NO at Sports Direct AGM 5.1.17
Thanks to my 2nd favourite trade union (sorry GMB but I used to be a T&G rep in Scotland and my Dad was an ETU assistant branch secretary) I have a very small shareholder in Sports Direct PLC (one share).
This morning I voted on line against Dr Ke…Read more…
Let the workers discuss the independent role of the working class in 2017
Let the Independent workers discuss, a New Society!Read more…
Striking workers:
Resistance is growing in low-wage and precarious sectors. After an overtime ban and days of industrial action, which crippled Southern Rail, drivers strike again in the early new year. Post Office…Read more…
@grayee is in top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2016 (well 98th to be exact)
It would not be the New Year without some chart or table ranking. Many thanks to Phil for doing the leg work and it appears that I am in his top 100 for independent tweeting bloggers. Which is always nice, even if I am 98th!
Owen Jones is number one w…Read more…
Happy New Year – looking forward to a better 2017
Happy New Year! If 2016 was another ‘anno horriblis’, lets hope 2017 is an ‘anno magnus’. As I demonstrate how I scraped through law school without properly learning Latin!
I don’t do predictions,…Read more…
Happy New Year: Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Just back from North Wales seeing family, giving and receiving presents as well as eating and drinking too much. I also managed to fit in a couple of lovely walks (see picture) which I will post about another time.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year an…Read more…
Letter issued December 31st 2016 by Len McCluskey
Kazakhstan unions need our support
The TUC has joined a campaign launched by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) to call on the government of Kazakhstan to respect the rights of workers in the country to form and join…Read more…
What Migration Watch aren’t telling you about what leaving the single market would mean
Migration Watch, the anti-immigration organisation, published a report yesterday calling for the UK to leave the single market to reduce net EU immigration. Like so much of what is said about migration, the incomplete nature of the argument is deliberately misleading. In particular, Migration Watch…Read more…
This is not the moment to try to make Brexit work for working people
This moment has been coming for a long time.In the early twentieth century, British politics grew up from being a battle between “liberal” and “conservative” wings of the ruling class and became, by the mid-twentieth century about the conflict between representatives of the working class and of the…Read more…
Private Eye’s view of Newham Labour Mayoral Process
This is not going away and is making Newham and the local Labour Party look ridiculous. Read more…
Travelling to come together.
This is my review of the highlights of 2016 . Compiled for the Morning Star (who published it here) this is the original. The Star is excellent at shaping my sometimes unweildy prose into shorter…Read more…
We need a new bargain to give working people a fair share of Britain’s success in 2017
When we look back, 2016 will be remembered as the year the establishment was shaken to its core. And yet the political turmoil has not benefited working people – and few feel they have taken back…Read more…
“If you think terrorism is the biggest threat to the West, you needtowatch this video
While not pretending that there is not a significant risk let us examine facts not emotion.
– Such as far more people were murdered by terrorism in my youth than now?
– Such as 24 Americans were murdered by terrorists between 2005 and 2015 but there …Read more…
School cleaners strike:
School cleaners who went on strike over pay sacked before Christmas Jeremy Corbyn condemns dismissal of Kinsley school trio who protested against wage cuts after service was outsourced School…Read more…
Union centrals generally side with one faction of the U.S. ruling class
Positions of U.S. Trade Unions One of the biggest problems facing the American working class and people is that the voice of the working class is effectively silenced. Not only are relatively few…Read more…
Unrealised expectations of unintended consequences – Update
A few years back I started pulling together a list of reforms that were enacted despite dire warnings of unintended consequences. As Albert Hirschman (PBUH) pointed out, despite the focus of conservative/reactionary voices on uninte…Read more…
A few end of year thoughts
A few random thoughts that kept coming up during 2016…
It is not the case that different stakeholder interests within the firm necessarily align, even over the long term. As we learnt recently, for instance, some stakeholders will actively lobby aga…Read more…