Instead of the Opposition asking questions, Philip Hammond, the transport secretary himself has today ironically demanded answers as to why Britain has been crippled to such an extent by snow and ice, and has consequently announced an official inquiry.
The Tory leader of Oxfordshire council sparked anger by tweeting: “County Hall invaded by an ugly, badly-dressed student rabble. God help us if this is our future.”
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis writes about the shocking rise in violence against NHS staff – and the poor proesectution rate, currently only 1.9 pc.
Will Hutton’s interim report on fair pay in the public sector, published yesterday, is packed with statistics illustrating what has happened to public sector pay over recent years. Importantly, it places these trends squarely in the context of earnings in the private sector.
What will drive long-term growth in the UK economy? With the growth White Paper now kicked into the long grass, it looks as if the Government doesn’t have an answer to this question, at least not now. At the same time, since the New Labour boom years ended in financial bust, the centre-left also needs a new story. There is much talk of the need for green growth, and ‘rebalancing’ the economy away from finance, often towards manufacturing, but no overall narrative on what will be the motor of growth after the crisis.
Should a stark example of the impact of inequality be needed, look at health status and life expectancy. If everyone over 30 without a degree had their death rate reduced to that of people with degrees, there would be over 200,000 fewer premature deaths each year. This finding, in last year’s Marmot review of health inequalities, illustrated the report’s core message: “Inequalities are a matter of life and death, of health and sickness, of well-being and misery.”
This week, ActionAid has exposed how the British brewing giant SABMiller, owner of Grolsch and Peroni, is dodging its taxes around the world. We found evidence that the company is systematically shifting the profits it makes in Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa and India, into tax havens.
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women last week (November 25th) the government announced the appointment of Liberal Democrats equalities minister Lynne Featherstone as the new champion for tackling international violence against women.
Ed miliband responded to David Cameron on tuition fees today, attacking the “shoddy scheme” the government is proposing. Yesterday, the prime minister, in a column in the Standard, defended the trebling of fees, and said that “before protesting, students need to get the facts straight”. Today, the Leader of the Opposition said “universities and students deserve better” than what the government is offering.
A new anti-cuts campaign website, False Economy, launched today, backed by the TUC.
