UPDATE: Since writing this article I was sent a link via Twitter from the Nationwide Building Society Press office, denying the story. Nationwide say: The GMB’s accusation is disappointing, surprising and, quite frankly, wrong. We have not asked our partners Carillion to reduce the hours of its employees. So let me confirm what I know […]
Posts under ‘Poverty/Low Pay’
Alternative Autumn statements: continued Tory failure versus Corbynomics
Nov 25th, 2015 by Michael Burke.Having spectacularly failed in his stated goal of eliminating the deficit in the last parliament, George Osborne is repeating his experiment in this one. Both the June 2010 and 2015 Budgets proposed ‘fiscal tightening’ of £37 billion. In the first of these Budgets the main method was cuts in public spending. In the second it […]
The Tories’ tax credit cut will cause problems for them in 2020
Oct 21st, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.It’s proven to be the closest shave of Dave’s second term and would have thrown the government into chaos had the ayes won it. Tonight’s vote in the Commons, brought before the House by Labour, saw the noes (i.e. keep the cuts to working tax credits) win by 317 to 295 – a tiny sliver […]
Corbyn’s Labour will stop the Tories abusing liberty, removing rights and cutting living standards
Sep 18th, 2015 by Grahame Morris.An effective, credible and principled opposition has never been needed more. The Cameron Government have resumed their assault on working people in the Commons this week. The Trade Union Bill seeks to remove the democratic rights of working people and has been condemned by human rights organisations including Liberty, Amnesty International UK and the British Institute […]
Iain Duncan Smith demands as many disabled people work as able-bodied
Aug 28th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.As part of the government’s plan to extract £12bn from social security benefits, IDS has announced his latest target is “the disability employment gap”. According to analysis of official ONS figures, this represents the difference between the number of disabled people who are in employment (48%) and the figure for the general population (73%). The […]
Exposing corporate hypocrites
Aug 17th, 2015 by Andy Newman.A key concept in modern marketing is that of Brand Promise: the commitments made by a company that seek to align it to the expectations and preferences of its target market, to provide competitive advantage. In particular, some companies seek to position themselves as “ethical”, whether in relation to avoiding controversial business sectors, such as […]
A Corbyn victory is not only possible, it is our only hope
Jul 23rd, 2015 by Andy Newman.Let us be clear what the Tory welfare bill will mean. If the parents of more than two children are precipitated into claiming benefits through a change in circumstances, like redundancy, a partner leaving them or being bereaved, then their children will suffer. If you are a women with, say 4 children, in a violent abusive […]
Labour must again be a moral crusade or it is nothing
Jul 22nd, 2015 by Bryan Gould.Nothing more starkly demonstrates the parlous state of the Labour Party than the failure of its leaders (and almost all of its would-be leaders) to resist cuts in benefits that will drive many thousands of the most vulnerable into deeper poverty and despair. No one prepared to look at the evidence can doubt that the […]
Does the acting Labour leader believe in anything?
Jul 13th, 2015 by David Pavett.Harriet Harman’s interview on the Sunday Politics of 12 July, has rapidly and justifiably gained notoriety on social media. It is important that there is a strong reaction from Labour MPs to the interview. The absence of such a reaction would be a very bad omen for Labour. Harman’s line of reasoning can be paraphrased and summarised […]
It isn’t a ‘lower tax, higher wage’ economy as Osborne boasts, it’s actually a higher tax, lower wage economy
Jul 10th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.One has to give it to Osborne, he’s extremely good at branding whatever he doesn’t like with a clever, pejorative – but false – jingle. ‘The merry-go-round on welfare’, ‘strivers versus shirkers’, ‘Labour left behind this economic mess’ , and ‘austerity’s painful decisions are the only way to cut the deficit’ immediately spring to mind. […]