So Barclays has managed to secure a capitalisation deal from a mix of members of Gulf Royal families and sovereign wealth funds. No doubt champagne corks are popping now that bonuses can keep on flowing. And it is good to know that at least one UK bank has convinced a significant investor that it is [...]

Filed under: Financial crisis | Comments Off

George Osbourne’s speech today marks a very clear dividing line between the government (with the Lib Dems) and the Conservatives.
In his interview on the Today programme he has clearly lined up the Conservative Party in opposition to a Keynesian response to recession. Indeed he used ‘Keynesian’ as a term of abuse and said:
“You can’t spend your [...]

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David Lammy MP has said something sensible about the ‘white working class’ issue that’s been rearing its ugly head again recently. Trade unionists are rightly worried about suggesting it’s sensible to segment the working class by race (interesting note – apparently it’s ok to talk about the working class – normally discouraged by politicians as [...]

Filed under: Equality, Migration | Comments Off

There is already a growing debate about why the Bank of England are acting so late on interest rates given the rapidly deteriorating economic situation. 

Filed under: Economics, Financial crisis, Monetary policy | 2 Comments »

I’ve just spotted on the HMRC website that the contact details for the national minimum wage helpline are next to:
National Yachtline For information about sailing your yacht or pleasurecraft to and from the UK
Yes, I know that not all yachts are owned by Russian oligarchs and some are modest, but it still says something about the [...]

Filed under: Inequality | 1 Comment »

Women working full-time in the UK get paid 17% less than men. As this is equivalent to women working the last two months of the year for free, the Fawcett Society have calcuated that today marks women’s no pay day – from today until the end of the year many women are effectively working for free, their [...]

Filed under: Equality | Comments Off

Here’s a tremendous video making the case for tax justice.

Filed under: Tax | Comments Off

When the economy is growing and unemployment low, political debate is about how to distribute the fruits of growth.
Of course that can be intense and ideological. In as much as there has been a dominant issue in recent elections, it has been tax cuts v public services. But just as easily the debate becomes a difference in emphasis that does little [...]

Filed under: Financial crisis, Politics | 1 Comment »

The European Parliament has voted in favour of the Directive on Equal Treatment of Agency Workers, meaning that agency workers in the UK will now have the right to receive equal treatment to permanent staff after 12 weeks of work with an employer. Roger Helmer, Conservative MEP, reacted to this progress with the following statement:

This is [...]

Filed under: Labour market, Politics, Vulnerable workers | Comments Off

Terry Macalister in today’s Guardian reports on the call by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for a green new deal to both deal with the environmental challenge and help revive the economy.

Filed under: Environment | Comments Off