While almost every group outside those on the top end of the income distribution have suffered immeasurably under nearly a decade of austerity, it is women who are footing the largest bill. …Read more…
Christmas pain
Families up and down the country will be desperately struggling at the worst time of the year as thousands will feel the full force of the government’s new benefit cap which many in Manchester were…Read more…
When work doesn’t pay
More than 7m people from working families are living in poverty with high rents and insecure tenancies often to blame, a damning new study has found. The report, carried out by the New Policy…Read more…
Cashing in on austerity
Council austerity cuts have over the last six years decimated public services and have cost more than half a million jobs, with local authorities in the poorest areas being hit the hardest. …Read more…
More wasted years?
In the middle of the political wreckage left by the referendum to leave the European Union the Autumn Statement was delivered by a new Chancellor for a new Prime Minister, but the message was clear –…Read more…
And the cuts go on
The new Tory government under the leadership of Theresa May has sought to distinguish itself from its predecessor by claiming time and again to be on the side of working people – or in the latest…Read more…
All too little
Chancellor Philip Hammond has failed to throw a lifeline to those on low wages or to demonstrate that this government will lay the solid economic foundations needed for a successful Brexit. Unite…Read more…
Lessons unlearned
Prime Minister Theresa May has announced that the UK will have the “lowest corporate tax rate in the G20” ahead of her government’s first Autumn Statement, while Chancellor Philip Hammond hinted that…Read more…
Cuts reversal call
For today’s spot we have not so much quote of the day as quotes. Ending cuts now has become a rallying cry that has united MPs across the political spectrum. “I have a guiding principle in…Read more…
Tougher times ahead?
The pressure is on for the Treasury to help ‘just about managing’ families in next week’s Autumn Statement, with groups and MPs from all sides calling for measures to help those households who are…Read more…
‘Truly regressive’
Employers in Northern Ireland have been instructed by the department of communities to act as benefit debt collectors with the power to deduct up to 40 per cent of people’s net earnings, Unite has…Read more…
Reverse austerity call
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed with shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, today (November 15) when McDonnell urged the government to take concrete steps to bring shared prosperity…Read more…
Actions speak loudest
Prime minister Theresa May used her first speech following Donald Trump’s US election victory to castigate the financial elite for being out of touch with ordinary people – at an event where May and…Read more…
‘Cruel and unnecessary’
“The bedroom tax is a cruel and unnecessary policy. It is widely despised by the British public, who see it what for what it is; a callous attempt to punish low-income, social housing tenants. …Read more…
The local government funding crisis and how to resolve it
With the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader for the second time we have been told that this has consolidated Labour as the “anti-austerity party”. Whilst this is certainly the aspiration of Jeremy and his supporters Labour can only be judged on what it does not just what it says. The…Read more…
Bedroom tax win
The Supreme Court has delivered a blow to Tory welfare policy by ruling that two families were discriminated against by the government’s hated “bedroom tax”. The ruling, in favour of a spina…Read more…
UNISON calls for energy equality for the UK’s worst-off users
‘Thousands die each winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes’, union and campaign group Fuel Poverty Action warn
The article UNISON calls for energy equality for the UK’s…Read more…
‘Delusional or dishonest’
The UN has slammed the government on it’s cuts to welfare and care for people with disabilities. Unite national officer Harish Patel responds. “For the last six years they [people with…Read more…
‘National shame’
A damning United Nations inquiry has concluded that vicious Tory cuts to welfare and social care for disabled people in Britain amount to “systematic violations” of their rights. The UN said…Read more…
The play’s the thing
The words “an interactive play” would strike fear into the hearts of most people. However, last Friday Unite hosted an initiative at its London and Eastern office that combined the skills of theatre…Read more…