Mind you, listening to Cameron blathering on would drive anyone to ….. I love the soundtrack. One of my favourites. Read more…
Slim chance
New Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that bungling Chancellor George Osborne has overshot borrowing targets for 2015/2016 by £2.7bn and is on course to miss them again this year….Read more…
‘All in this together’?
Questions remain over the tax affairs of the Prime Minister and Chancellor despite the publication of their tax returns, Labour MPs said yesterday (April 11) during explosive scenes in Parliament….Read more…
Low-income workers urged to claim tax credits before universal credit arrives
Across the country the one million people in low-paid jobs who have yet to apply for tax credits should hurry up and do so before it’s too late and universal credit arrives in their area, say UNISON…Read more…
Keep Osbourne’s thieving hands off our Pensions!
At the same time as Tory Chancellor George Osbourne, is trying to steal jobs from steel workers, benefits from the disabled, tax credits from the working poor and homes owned by Councils, he is also trying to plunder the local government pension scheme…Read more…
Climbdown
The Prime Minister was forced into a humiliating climb down yesterday (March 21) on plans announced in the Budget to reduce the deficit by cutting personal independence payments (PIP) for disabled…Read more…
#Budget2016: TUC reaction roundup
The Chancellor, George Osborne delivered the 2016 budget yesterday, here is a quick round up of reactions from our TUC bloggers: Public Service cuts £3.5bn worth of cuts to public services by 2020. The spending cuts will be identified through an ‘efficiency review’. Cuts and increased pressures on…Read more…
Another budget, another year of cuts, another year of failure
We’re six years into the Osborne experiment, and the Chancellor is still forcing the British people to swallow the same medicine – even when it’s clear it’s not working
The article Another budget,…Read more…
This is not a Budget for the next generation, says UNISON
Commenting on today’s Budget, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “Six years of severe cuts to public spending have done little to pay down the deficit, despite the Chancellor’s promises. Yet…Read more…
‘A credible alternative’
Labour’s announcement of a fiscal responsibility rule to drive investment and tackle the deficit has drawn praise from eminent economists, as well as Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey. …Read more…
All that is rotten and rancid
‘Tweet in haste, repent at leisure.’ When he tapped out his boast – #Google tax bill is a victory for the action we’ve taken – that fateful Saturday morning last month little did…Read more…
Tougher economic conditions, but the IFS suggests the Chancellor’s rules are holding back growth
Yesterday the IFS set out a bleaker view for the economy and public finances in its Green Budget, which is published every year in the run-up to the Chancellor’s Budget Statement. Given the gloomy projections, let’s hope the government takes note, especially with regard to the fiscal mandate….Read more…
Divorced from reality
Chancellor George Osborne’s rhetoric to re-balance the economy has become divorced from reality warned Unite, as the latest GDP figures showed an increasing reliance on the service sector while…Read more…
‘Driving force’ going off the road?
UK manufacturing is heading in the wrong direction, our balance of payments still on the critical list, exports are down, deflation is on the horizon and City pessimists warn of a another financial…Read more…
“Dealing with debt”, Osborne-style
Can someone please tell me just why the Tories have this reputation for economic competency? Hat tip Joel from Debt Resistance. Read more…
Gathering storm
George Osborne boasts his economic miracle has left us basking in economic sunshine which will only get warmer. But in the real world, the economic storms are building. Last week George…Read more…
War on the poorest
Media rumours about the death of austerity are premature says the Institute of Fiscal Studies as it and the Resolution Foundation highlight Osborne’s new attack on the poorest. George…Read more…
Osborne blinks first
Osborne – with his ‘Caesar’ haircut – stood at the Commons despatch box yesterday with his Labour political opponents in front of him and his Tory political enemies behind him. We all…Read more…
#SpendingReview 2015 – the Touchstone blog round up
George Osborne’s first Spending Review of the new parliament has hit the headlines for his spectacular U-turn over drastic cuts to tax credits. It avoids the hardship it would have inflicted on millions of low-paid families, though as Richard Exell points out, the cuts to Universal Credit are…Read more…
Osborne forced to u-turn
Osborne went to Parliament to attempt to undo the damage his last budget did to his political fortunes. Time will tell if he has managed it. Tax credit cuts that would have hit 3.3m low…Read more…