Economics
Can a Free Trade Commonwealth replace the EU?
By Dean Hochlaf New Zealand MP, Winston Peters has thrown his voice into the great EU referendum debate, by suggesting Britain leaves the EU, and “heal a rift” with the nations of the Commonwealth that emerged when Britain joined the EEC. He has even gone as far as suggesting a Commonwealth free trade area, which has been enthusiastically picked up by the UKIP Commonwealth spokesman. The concept of a Commonwealth free trade area pops up every now and then as...
Will the £30 per week cut to disability benefits help people into work?
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Shockingly MPs have overturned a Lords decision to stop cuts to the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) meaning disabled people will now be £30 a week worse off. It is hoped this cut would help people back into work, but it has even left some Tory backbenchers uneasy. The Government had previously been beaten by the Lords, over the reduction of the allowance for people in the work related activity group (WRAG), because they are...
Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse has failed, figures show
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It looks like the Chancellor’s much heralded “Northern Powerhouse,” is not quite going according to plan, which may come as not much of a surprise to people living there. Osborne will be saddened to hear that more start-ups were launched in a single London postcode than in every city and town in Yorkshire. The capital’s Silicon Roundabout, the UK’s tech hub, created 10,280 start-ups in 2014-15. Conversely, last year Yorkshire and Humberside saw 9,562 start-ups,...
The Next Financial Crisis will be caused by Central Bankers Not Investment Bankers
By Ben Ramanauskas On September 15th 2008, the global investment bank Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. It was- and still remains- the largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the United States and precipitated a global financial crisis that has had a devastating impact on the world economy. The conduct of many of the bankers at Lehman Brothers, and it’s subsequent fall, became emblematic of the culture of greed and excessive risk taking of the financial services industry. As the...
20 million pensions raided by Tories…with low-paid worst hit
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor People on less than £15k a year will be clobbered by the Tory government as increases under Labour are cancelled. Private sector workers, who are low-paid, will be the worst affected as twenty million people are hurt by Tory pension changes. George Osborne said his new flat rate £155.65-a-week pension is “simpler and fairer, and there is no doubt it is vastly larger than the current £115.95 rate. However, there will no longer be additional...
The OECD has called for less Austerity…Will Europe Listen?
By Dean Hochlaf Since the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn, Europe has pursued a course of vigorous austerity, in a desperate attempt to reign in government spending which spiralled after a series of high profile bank bail-outs. In Britain austerity is practically synonymous with Chancellor George Osborne. In Europe, it is Wolfgang Schäuble, the indomitable German Finance Minister who best encapsulates the continents commitment to austerity policies. The fascination with austerity borders on the dogmatic. The Greek economy...
Iain Duncan Smith approves cuts to disabled people on assumption “enough will die.”
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Iain Duncan Smith is giving the green light to almost a 20 per cent cut in support for people with disabilities. Funds available for disabled people who used to access the ILF (Independent Living Fund) will be reduced by nearly a fifth over the next four years. Government ministers have said the measures are appropriate as the claimant number will fall, however campaigner Linda Burnip claims this is calculated “based on the hope enough people...
Victims of Bedroom Tax Suffer By £66 More Than DWP Predicted
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Figures that have just been released have revealed that the controversial tax is costing 442,000 poor homes £15.27 a week up from an estimated £14. A lot of money for struggling people living on the breadline. This is a total of £794 a year, £66 higher than the £728 the DWP claimed it would be in the official impact assessment from 2013/14. This is 9 per cent above the original figure. The difference on the...
Millions in Poverty Through Tory Cuts as Study Says Work Failing to Pay
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Welfare cuts have hit children the hardest as families can’t make ends meet, a study has revealed. Due to Tory spending cuts more people live below the poverty line that in 2008 at the height of the global financial meltdown. The report, by the JRF (Joseph Rowntree Foundation) found that 11.6 million people are struggling to make ends meet. Shockingly the majority of these people live in working households. The JRF study says that cuts...