News

A pro-Brexit group of economists has claimed Britain will gain £651 billion from a "no deal", whereas the European Union will lose more than £500 billion. The Economists for Free Trade group - formerly known as Economists for Brexit - used a classic trade model to predict that GDP will spike by nine per cent, amounting to a one-off gain of £180 billion, if Britain leaves on March 29, 2019, without a deal. They predict the UK would make an additional...

The imminent collapse of Carillion could not have come at a worse time for the NHS, according to Nursing Notes, with essential services threatened by the groups demise. Following several days of negotiations, the board of the NHS’s largest external contractor, Carillion, has said that it had “no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect’’. Carillion employs around 20,000 people in the UK with around 8,000 of these working as subcontractors for the NHS....

Wheelchair users are still unable to use one of Britain’s busiest libraries after a £6million revamp – because the lifts are too small. Oxfordshire County Council forked out millions in taxpayer cash upgrading its flagship library but failed to install new lifts which can fit standard sized wheelchairs. Mum-of-three wheelchair user Suzi Horsley, 34, said it is ‘ridiculous’ she is unable to use the library, which is inside Oxford’s Westgate Shopping Centre. The council has blamed ‘demand in the construction...

The Government's free school meals plan threatens to leave children hungry and cut jobs, according to the union that represents school catering and lunchtime supervision staff. GMB has responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on free school meal entitlement under Universal Credit, saying the plans are a “cut disguised as a kindness.” The response casts doubt on the Government’s claim that more pupils will be entitled to free school meals than under the current system. The union’s analysis reveals that: Under...

Union calls for urgent review of private sector contract awards as company collapse plunges workers and services into crisis GMB, Britain’s general union has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to act immediately to take Carillion contracts into public ownership after the company went into liquidation today. The union called for a full and transparent inquiry into the provision of public services by private sector contractors once jobs and services were secured. Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary said: “The Prime Minister...

A petition has been launched to urge the government to investigate allegations that MPs and peers raped and assaulted children throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs and peers have been named in the appeal for investigation, including Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Sir Edward Leigh MP and the Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP. According to campaign group Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse there are several political figures who are widely named by child abuse survivors and contemporary witnesses...

A vet campaigning for a hard Brexit has ended up in the dog house over an anti-EU poster - which says Europe has already "raped" Britain over a deal. Trevor Dixon, 69, donned the slogan in big black lettering on the window of his veterinarian practice in Goole, East Yorks. The poster reads: “Britain has been raped by Europe! Now, she is about to be ridiculed!” Mr Dixon, who once stood for the Brigg and Goole parliamentary seat as an...

In the first two of a series of trials over the next few weeks, nine out of ten activists were found guilty of Obstruction of a Highway today (12 January 2018) at Stratford Magistrates Court. Over 100 people were arrested in September 2017 outside the Excel Centre in east London, during the DSEI (Defence & Security Equipment International) arms fair, which takes place every two years. Likely the largest event in the world, the fair attracts international arms dealers from...

Tragic example of failures of privatisation and outsourcing requires Government to intervene to protect public sector work, says GMB. GMB, the UK’s general union, demands the Government intervene and protect Carillion workers’ jobs and pensions – rather than focussing on bailing out a failing private company. Carillion, one of the government's biggest contractors, is struggling under £1.5bn of debt, including a pension shortfall of £587m. The government is meeting Carillion and the Pensions Regulator today (Friday) to discuss the services...