Co-op Bank slashes yet more branches
21 January 2018
Now effectively in the hands of US private equity companies, the Co-op Bank has ordered a further round of branch closures.
EU imposes anti-union law on Greece
18 January 2018
Under orders from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, the Greek government has pushed through the most anti-union law in Europe.
Hope for skills at Bombardier trains
17 January 2018
On the back of new contracts, Bombardier has announced more apprenticeships in Derby to work on the new Aventra trains.
Sickness among teachers rockets
15 January 2018
Sickness among teachers is adding to the pressure created by staff shortages – leading to a teachers leaving the profession and creating even more strain.
A farewell to coal?
15 January 2018
The government has repeated its intention to close all coal-fired electricity power generation by 2025.
Carillion: over the precipice
15 January 2018
Carillion the construction and facilities management services company has collapsed into liquidation, as we predicted in October 2017. This is a failure of the “free” market and capitalist dogma: its workers and those who use its services will suffer.
Faith in schools
15 January 2018
The government is doing little to curb religious segregation and the influence of faith schools. The new education secretary is a supporter of religious segregation. The chief inspector of schools says more powers are needed to tackle illegal faith schools.
Museum workers fight contract changes
11 January 2018
Over 25 workers at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich braved freezing weather on 1 January 2018 to picket in protest against proposed contractual changes.
NHS land sell-off for 'unaffordable' housing
11 January 2018
A nurse would have to save for 53 years just to put down a deposit on homes built on sold-off NHS land, says a new report.
Boom in factory output
11 January 2018
Manufacturing is growing more quickly than at any time in the past seven years, official figures suggest.
Scarlet fever makes a comeback
6 January 2018
The rise in the number of cases of scarlet fever shows no sign of tailing off significantly, with a record 544 cases recorded in England in the week before Christmas.
Revolution: which side are you on?
A century after the Bolshevik Revolution ushered in workers’ power, the lessons continue to reverberate around the world…
A long way from a believable future for rail
The government talks about having a strategy, but the reality is that overambitious forecasts are likely to leave services cut, and taxpayers and passengers picking up the bill…
No pay, no productivity
Stop all this talk about higher productivity being the route to higher pay. In fact, the reverse is true: only when pay rates rise will capitalists be forced to invest…
Grenfell: no control, no accountability
Tenants at Grenfell Tower could not have done more to attract attention to the risk of fire. But they were up against more than penny-pinching profiteers – a whole system had been designed to take control away from them…
On the march towards a European army
The current president of the European Commission wants it. So did his predecessors. And now the whole EU is taking steps towards the creation of a unified European military, along with unified defence research…
How politicians created a childcare crisis
What happens when the government introduces a childcare scheme but fails to fund it properly? Nurseries are closing, childminders are quitting – and parents and grandparents are picking up the bill…
Highs and lows - from the 1930s to the 1980s
The high point of achievement for the British working class was 1945, and the post war years that followed. But how did 1945 happen?
Guards battle still raging
29 December 2017
Strikes to halt the removal of guards continue on many passenger franchises. The RMT announced further strike action extending into the new year in the separate disputes on Merseyrail, Northern, Greater Anglia, South Western Railways and Island Line.
EU: new call for integration
Martin Schulz, head of Germany’s Social Democrats, is calling strongly for ever-closer European integration to build a “United States of Europe” by 2025.
Work-in saves jobs
Decisive action by the workers at Burntisland Fabrication in Scotland has saved jobs at the oil and gas industry equipment maker.
The ever-shrinking Navy
If nothing else, the Ministry of Defence has a sense of humour: with only one month left of the 2017 calendar year, it designated 2017 as “The Year of the Royal Navy”.
Pensions: academics ballot over action
29 December 2017
University workers across Britain are being balloted over whether to fight to prevent the closure of their University Superannuation Scheme, a final salary arrangement.
Education: inter-union agreement
A good development: the new National Education Union, Unison and the GMB have agreed not to poach each other’s members. But there is also a negative side.
Scotland: a budget designed to divide
Tax plans in the budget issued by the devolved government in Edinburgh mark a split in the united approach to taxation in Britain.
Korea reacts to US war threats
21 December 2017
It’s been revealed that a massive hack of South Korean military computers unveiled plans to assassinate North Korea's leadership and invade the country. No wonder the country is developing its missile capability.
US admits to ground troops in Yemen
21 December 2017
President Trump has admitted for the first time that the USA has “a small number” of ground troops in Yemen. The US government has also given arms and logistical support to the Saudi-led coalition invading the country.
A new vision needed
19 December 2017
This report from IPPR gives a good, detailed analysis of our situation. It rightly suggests we need a new economic approach, but says too little about what must be done to put things right.
We need a Cromwell now
There are few more nauseating sights than pro-Remain MPs standing up for their constitutional right to “scrutinise” Brexit-related legislation. They are the same MPs who spent years nodding through a flood of EU laws.
Brexit negotiations: let's have clarity
13 December 2017
It's time for the Brexit negotiators to show the same clarity as that of the British people in the referendum vote. We don't want opaque wording, we want out.