Lord Young, one of Thatcher’s Business ministers, got himself sacked 10 years ago when he made a deeply callous and insensitive remark. He has obviously not lost the knack because he’s just been reported making comments again of similar ilk. Reminiscent of Jo Moore sending round an email on the day of 9/11 which said [...]
Posts under ‘Economy’
Len McCluskey & Lutfur Rahman uniting the community of East End battleground
May 14th, 2013 by Jon Lansman.There are two stories here. The first is that Unite the Union’s strategy of taking trade unions into the community was launched yesterday in a particularly tangible way with the opening of the first Unite Community Centre. The second is that it represents a collaborative enterprise between Len McCluskey and Lutfur Rahman, independent Mayor of [...]
On “tough decisions” (aka “austerity”)
May 13th, 2013 by Bryan Gould.Last week’s YouGov poll, commissioned and published by Progress, showed that, while Labour was accepted as the “nice” party, the Tories were seen as more ready to take the “tough” decisions. The result was interpreted as an endorsement of the need for such “tough” decisions and therefore as bad news for Ed Miliband and an [...]
The ‘socialism’ of Vince Cable: what’s changed?
May 12th, 2013 by David Osler.Such is the magnitude of the event that the definitive account of the financial collapse of September 2008 and its consequences has surely yet to be written. I do not mean by stating that to deride numerous worthwhile attempts at a first draft of history. Journalistic efforts such as Paul Mason’s Meltdown, Elliott and Atkinson’s The Gods [...]
Equality comes with shift of power to the people
May 10th, 2013 by Richard Leonard.People are discontented, disaffected and hungry for change. The so-called consumer society robs us of our universal humanity and our environment of its natural balance. Living standards are squeezed to offset the falling rate of profit. Women’s work in particular continues to be systematically undervalued, with the poorest of the poor hit hardest of all. [...]
GMB Members take Carillion Dispute to Bristol Southmead
May 10th, 2013 by Andy Newman.GMB members, in dispute with Carillion at Great Western PFI Hospital in Swindon since December 2011, today demonstrated at Southmead Hospital in Bristol over the on-going dispute and blacklisting by Carillion. 150 GMB members employed by Carillion at Swindon have taken 21 days of strike action over the persistent failure of the Carillion management to deal with evidence [...]
Who appoints these State stooges?
May 10th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.In 2011 it was widely believed that Dave Hartnett, boss of HMRC, in a multi-billion offshore avoidance dispute with Vodaphone, had let off the company with some paltry payment without even consulting his lawyers. The PAC therefore instructed the National Audit Office, headed by Amyas Morse, to investigate this and 4 other dodgy deals. Before this [...]
Guardian Sustainable Business Awards honouring blacklist company
May 9th, 2013 by Andy Newman.Readers who have been following the saga of the saga of the GMB’s industrial campaign against Carillion at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital will know that the company failed to act for years while supervisors shook down staff for gold and cash in exchange for their employment rights. Bookmarks Hide Sites
Watch Dennis Skinner’s 2013 Queen’s Speech heckle
May 9th, 2013 by Conrad Landin.Nice one! Now join the campaign to Save Our Royal Mail. Bookmarks Hide Sites
Fat cats won’t lose a moment’s sleep over Osborne’s banking bill
May 9th, 2013 by Michael Meacher.Arguably the most important bill in a weak and flaccid Queen’s Speech today is the Banking Bill. But it is a fiasco. It has one central objective – to prevent too-big-to fail banks from being bankrupted by the recklessness of their investment bankers and requiring another gargantuan bail-out at ruinous cost to taxpayers and deep [...]
