Earlier this week, the internationally renowned political scientist and author on world debt Susan George, addressed, the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) conference. Ahead of the…Read more…
UK poverty hits millions
The stark situation for many millions of Britons facing poverty has been outlined by new data from the office for national statistics (ONS). Staggeringly under the last Tory-led government…Read more…
Scotland united against austerity – Demo in Glasgow 20 June 2015
The STUC, in partnership with organisations comprising the People’s Assembly in Scotland will hold a major anti-austerity rally in George Square, Glasgow, on Saturday 20 June.
The event, now entitled, “Scotland United Against Austerity”, will take place on the same day as a number of rallies throughout the UK. The event in Glasgow will take the form of a rally and will be taken forward inRead more…
Down below zero
Deflation, slow growth, pay in the doldrums, household debt on the rise, productivity stagnant. Can we survive more austerity? So prices in general have gone from not rising at all – zero…Read more…
Brothers from the past, inspiration for today
If you were to imagine the typical Cotswold town, you might well come up with Burford. The steeply sloped High Street is lined by creamy yellow stone houses and shops. It’s a quiet town –…Read more…
Payday lenders circle afresh
As household debt is set to hit record levels, Wonga targets the market by slashing interest rates to 1,500 per cent a year and lend to those who can re-pay loans. Loans are big business, with…Read more…
Let them eat cake
Tax cuts for business, public spending cuts…but we want lots of investment on items which will make us money. The Institute of ‘fat cat’ Directors gives their ‘want our cake and eat…Read more…
Not what we voted for
It started on May 9 in London, less than 48 hours after the election. Hundreds marched in an impromptu protest outside Downing Street, voicing their frustration with a government they did not vote…Read more…
Tories’ high rise of housing woe
Only a week after the Tories have begun their latest five-year reign of power, new, record-breaking figures released last Thursday (May 14) from the first few months of 2015 have shown the massive…Read more…
Economic miracle or economic mire?
It now seems there have been more miracles attributed to the Tories than to Jesus Christ himself. So many economic miracles the Tory press don’t know who to raise to political sainthood. They…Read more…
What happened and why?
These are some brief initial observations on the outcome of the General Election. Understanding exactly what happened in the General Election will take some time. It makes no sense to draw hasty conclusions on what is a complicated outcome in which a number of different trends appear to have…Read more…
People’s Assembly Scotland: Greens top pledge against austerity followed by Labour then SNP
#GE2015 Most of Scotland’s election candidates who responded to the People’s Assembly Scotland’s petition against austerity have also signed up to it, pledging “to commit themselves to oppose all…Read more…
Finely in the balance
What did last night’s Question Time with the “three leaders” tell us? Certainly that the public likes it political meat raw and there remains real anger out there at the “political class”. …Read more…
Surrendering to neo-liberal ‘fiscal discipline’
Keith Ewing suggests that Scottish independence may come sooner than the high-speed rail link, partly because of ‘Labour’s extraordinary proposal to give quasi-constitutional status to Austerity.’…Read more…
Hounded over the edge
The word is ‘cruelty’. That’s the only way to describe how people on benefits are treated, says Unite Community activist Colin Hampton. The current benefits regime seems to operate like a…Read more…
Scandal of epic dimensions
If you read the statistic that Britain is the sixth richest country in the world, you’d assume that it’s a nation virtually free of certain social and economic ills, such as poverty and disease,…Read more…
When workers cannot afford to eat
A new report has revealed that demand for food banks has soared – thanks to low pay and zero-hours contracts. The TUC study says a record number of families are existing on emergency food…Read more…
Listen to strategy plea
Workers at Tory controlled Bromley council have voted by 87 per cent in favour of a second round of strike action against the council’s plans for mass privatisation of services. The…Read more…
When the homeless are criminalised
Hundreds of people took to the streets of London yesterday, bringing traffic to a standstill as they marched on Parliament to raise awareness of the treatment of homeless people in the UK, Ireland…Read more…
Rethink policies now plea
New research from the Nevin economic research institute (NERI) has confirmed the need for urgent action from the NI Executive parties. The research shows that Northern Ireland’s…Read more…