Former business secretary Vince Cable has branded it “depressingly ideological and completely unnecessary.” HR directors say it is counterproductive. The police say that union protests are peaceful…Read more…
TU Bill: down a slippery slope
The right to form and join trade unions has been protected in international law for a very long time. So has the right to protest. The most obvious legal provision is found in Article 11 of the…Read more…
‘A new kind of politics’
Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader with a mandate which dwarfs that given to Tony Blair 21 years ago is the most extraordinary event in the 45 years I have been a party member. To say it is a…Read more…
Backing Corbyn – put on your tin hats
Every day seems to bring a new media-generated hoo-ha about what Jeremy Corbyn may or may not have said. As Owen Jones warns, we’d better get used to it. The vast armoury of the Tory press is trained…Read more…
At risk: your BBC
It’s the time in the decade when the BBC’s Charter, granted by Parliament, comes up for review. The BBC’s enemies in government and the commercial media combine to throw at it everything…Read more…
You can’t burn down our rainbow!
As soon as I stepped on the train I saw big bright dresses, suitcases full of make-up and a whole carriage full of singing drag queens, from this point on I knew Brighton Pride was going to be the…Read more…
Small gains, big pains
A newly issued briefing from the influential Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has said that the potential gains from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would…Read more…
TU Bill: No concern for workplace democracy
Strike action, fox hunting, the BBC, Europe, migrant benefits – never underestimate the Tory capacity to identify things that aren’t problems and then attack them. The number of days lost to…Read more…
The Corbyn ‘phenomenon’
A tragedy is being played out on the outskirts of fortress Britain where refugees attempting to escape conflict and misery have gathered. Values of tolerance and social justice are being…Read more…
The madness of sell-off king George
They say that the definition of insanity is to repeat the same action and expect a different result. If that’s true then George Osborne’s Mansion House speech presented a particularly…Read more…
Food fight!
Cooking for large numbers of people often seems a daunting task, but, it doesn’t need to be that way. Following the tremendous success of last Saturday’s (July 25) Left Fest – whereby…Read more…
‘Bleeding’ us dry
‘Vampire’ Sajid Javid comes from the working class so why is he bleeding us of all our rights? Sajid Javid is the son of a bus driver who sits at the Cabinet table, the proud embodiment of the…Read more…
A 1215-style fight for our rights
“Depressingly ideological and completely unnecessary” – one view the view of the Trade Union Bill rushed out by the Tory government. It wasn’t me who said that, nor any of my union colleagues…Read more…
Our car workers are star workers
The news that automotive workers are the UKs most productive employees, each generating £100,000 a year in added value, will come as no surprise to Unite members working in the sector. …Read more…
An ‘asinine logic’
In an act of political doublespeak, business secretary Sajid Javid described the purpose of Trade Union Bill – which has its first reading in the House of Commons today – thus, “Trade…Read more…
Building on sand
‘Fixing The Foundations’, the government’s plan to ‘boost productivity, was launched this week by business secretary Sajid Javid. Addressing workers at a UK automotive factory, Javid talked…Read more…
We won’t let them destroy us
Young members in Unite have condemned yesterday’s Tory Budget following what we believe to be an assault on young people by the Chancellor. George Osbourne has committed to ending university…Read more…
Building an economy for all
Tory guru Steve Hilton has had a revelation: low pay causes poverty. From one Steve to another, welcome to the real world. But as your party is about to unveil its first full blue-blooded Tory…Read more…
Being on the right side of history
Paloma Faith’s political warm-up act, Fox News’ “braying jackal” and The Sun’s “camera-chasing Guardian goblin”. Owen Jones provokes many descriptions but for many he is Britain’s leading left-wing…Read more…
Industrial strategy? What’s that?
Is any semblance of an industrial strategy about to go the same way as Lord Heseltine’s report No Stone Unturned (his report on creating a re-balanced economy) and George Osborne’s now disguarded…Read more…