Economy: EU-driven decline
The UK’s overall balance of payments – now known as the current account deficit – deteriorated sharply last year.
News
News
Bankers: Voting with their snouts
No wonder the City of London and the banking mafia in Canary Wharf in their multitude of banking skyscrapers shriek so loudly about the “dangers” of Britain leaving the EU.
Safety requires strong union workplaces
28 April 2016
Workers Memorial Day was marked across Britain today, with construction workers taking the lead. Hundreds gathered by the Building Worker tatue in London.
Southern Railway strike over safety
27 April 2016
RMT members on Southern Railway have concluded a successful 24-hour strike over driver-only operation, forcing the employer back to the negotiating table.
Private ambulance chaos
Patients relying on Sussex ambulances for transport to and from appointments have been left stranded after the contract went to a private company.
Social care: children's report hidden
Two years after it was published the government is still refusing to publish a report it commissioned into children’s social care services.
Poverty: food banks on the rise
The Trussell Trust announced in April that 1.1 million people in Britain are now using food banks to obtain emergency food supplies.
Health bursaries scrapped
The government has confirmed it will push student nurses and other health care students into debts of at least £50,000 each by scrapping the NHS bursary.
Local government pay in disarray
Pay strategies in local government are now in disarray. Unison, the largest union in local government, has come to a standstill as the members reject the union’s direction of travel.
Network Rail: sleight of hand
25 April 2016
The government is revaluing Network Rail’s balance sheet in a transparent attempt to shore up its own crumbling accounts.
EU: no answer to unemployment
15 April 2016
Unemployment is endemic to capitalism and to all capitalist states. It remains high within the EU; remaining in will not change that.
Manchester meeting discusses why workers should vote to leave
13 April 2016
A meeting in Manchester on the referendum provided friends and colleagues with an opportunity to find out more about the nature of the EU and the reasons why workers should vote to leave.
Government U-turn over baseline tests for four-year-olds.
12 April 2016
Government ministers have abandoned controversial plans to judge primary schools based on new tests for four-year-olds.
Junior doctors carry on as government cracks appear
8 April 2016
Striking doctors have been manning picket lines and engaging with the public in the latest rounds of their battle against the imposition of new contracts.
EU drives record balance of payments deficit
2 April 2016
The UK’s overall balance of payments – now known as the current account deficit – deteriorated sharply last year, thanks to a phenomenal deficit with EU countries.
German rail takes over Northern services
2 April 2016
Rail union RMT members hoisted the German flag over Newcastle Central station on 1 April, the day that German state railway operator Deutsche Bahn took over Northern rail services.
Migration statistics in turmoil
31 March 2016
One set of official statistics suggests that around 1.6 million EU citizens came to Britain between 2006 and 2014 – but another set suggests the figure could be a million higher.
Housing at the mercy of speculators and the EU
25 March 2016
The government is running down social housing intending to prime the market for foreign takeover. Fearing that Britain may exit the EU, speculators are already leaping into the property scrum.
ENO chorus success
25 March 2016
Members of the English National Opera chorus have settled their dispute about wage cuts. They had overwhelmingly voted to strike and not sing during the first act the opera Akhnaten on the last night of this acclaimed production.
Farmers march for a future
23 March 2016
Farmers from all over the UK marched to Downing Street on Wednesday 23 March to demand a future for British farming.
Junior hospital doctors’ action continues
14 March 2016
Hospital doctors were on strike again on 9 and 10 March. Picket lines were well populated and supported by the public as action against imposition of the junior hospital doctors’ contract continued.
Trade gap with EU widens
14 March 2016
The latest round of trade figures issued last week dramatically underlined the reality behind Britain’s unequal trade with the European Union.
Newcastle Grassroots Out meeting welcomes trade union speaker
14 March 2016
Well over 1,000 people packed the Tyne Theatre and Opera House to attend the first Newcastle meeting of Grassroots Out.
Glasgow meeting discusses why to leave EU
14 March 2016
A CPBML meeting in Glasgow on why trade unionists should vote to leave the EU drew a diverse and enthusiastic audience ready to contribute their own ideas.
Victory for Airbus 8 against fascist law
9 March 2016
Eight Spanish workers have been cleared of criminal charges under a fascist labour law dating back to the Franco regime. The British government’s current Trade Union Bill aims to introduce something similar.
Pay again - local government
9 March 2016
The Trade Union Bill will soon to become an Act. This may even save local government trade unions from another fiasco over the so-called fight for pay in this year’s pay round.
No British visas for Cubans
9 March 2016
Cuba and the USA are making the opening moves of diplomacy between themselves. Yet Britain has introduced a surreptitious blockade of its own.
Dutch to vote on EU-Ukraine agreement
3 March 2016
Referendums are becoming contagious. On 16 April the Netherlands will vote on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement – and could scupper it for good.
Out of the EU! New referendum pamphlet
2 March 2016
The CPBML has just published a new 8-page pamphlet outlining why a vote to leave the EU is vital in the June referendum.
Opera chorus vote for strike
1 March 2016
Members of the Equity union at the English National Opera in London have voted unanimously to strike over pay cuts and new contracts.