Tory MEPs scupper plan to cut emissions
Tory MEPs have rejected a proposed reform to the European emissions trading scheme that would have cut the huge surplus of allowances currently being traded.
Green Politics
The minimum wage vs inflation (graph)
Although the government deserves a degree of credit for seeing off calls from business leaders to freeze the minimum wage, by increasing it to £6.31 – meagre increase of twelve pence – it has yet again failed to ensure the minimum wage is above inflation for the third year running.
Britain is falling behind on sales of electric vehicles
Around the world, governments are responding to the threat of man-made climate change and exposure to the costs of imported oil and gas by tightening regulations on vehicle emissions. And yet Britain is falling behind.
This is the biggest assault on workers’ rights ever
Collectively, the changes to employment law amount to the biggest assault on workers’ rights ever. They very significantly weaken worker bargaining power, and will increase job insecurity for millions. And like so many of the coalition government’s policies they impact particularly on the most vulnerable.
Did the poor get richer under Thatcher?
A post at Guido Fawkes’ blog boasts that under Thatcher “wages went up across the whole spectrum, including for the poorest”. As evidence, he produces this graph taken from Channel Four Factcheck.
Economy to continue flatlining this year
The graph below, produce by Canadian-based bank Scotiabank, shows the evolving nature of GDP forecasts as applied to the UK economy.
As we can see, this is the third consecutive year where the consensus for growth has started out at around 2 per cent before gradually being pushed down towards zero as time has passed.
Margaret Thatcher’s legacy was to ingrain a north-south divide in our body politic
When visiting a factory in Wallsend in 1985, Margaret Thatcher famously turned on a reporter who challenged her over her impact on the region (with unemployment standing at 20 per cent at that time). She replied that the correct response was to highlight success stories “not always standing there as moaning Minnies”.
No more blaming the eurozone: largest fall in exports is to non-EU countries
So much for the recession being made in the Eurozone. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that net trade is down and the largest fall in exports is to non-EU countries.
Tax avoidance and the myth of trickle down wealth
The files released from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) may finally put faces to the offshore accounts scandal whose numbers are quite astounding.
A recent report by the Tax Justice Network found that the equivalent to the total combined GDP of U.S. and Japan is being hidden away by those rich enough to use offshore accounts.
Would staff at Sittingbourne really be better off as a result of Osborne’s tax and benefits changes?
This week, the Chancellor spoke to staff working at a supermarket depot in Sittingbourne, Kent, about changes to the tax and benefits system. But would staff at Sittingbourne really be better off as a result of Osborne’s tax and benefits changes?