Is London fair? Those living in the capital are most worried about wages and housing August 3, 2015 Londoners are vehemently in favour of capping chief executives' salaries, it turns out, after a new poll found 79 per cent of those living in the capital think it's unfair for a chief executive running an organisation that employs those on the minimum wage to be paid more than £500,000 a year. According to the [...]
Where can you earn most? Wages grow fastest in Northern Ireland, Wales and North East – but London still has the highest salaries July 15, 2015 Yes, wages are still highest in London – but the capital isn’t where salaries are growing fastest. Wage growth is higher than it’s been for five years, showed fresh labour market statistics released by the Office for National Statistics today. This is far from evenly split, however. Those working in Northern Ireland, the North East [...]
July Budget 2015: Living wage bill hurts retailers and small firms July 8, 2015 Retail and hospitality industry insiders warned yesterday that their sectors face a huge rise in labour costs after a Tory pledge to introduce a minimum wage of £9 for over-25s by 2020. From April next year, businesses will be required to pay £7.20 per hour to workers over the age of 25, rising to [...]
Europe is the sick man of the globe: Britain will thrive away from its enfeebling grip September 28, 2015 In the 1970s, Britain was sick. It suffered from endemic inflation, high unemployment, volatile growth and structural decline. Eyes wandered jealously across the Channel to the fast-growing European economies. It is little wonder that some thought the patriotic cause was to join forces with the European Economic Community. Today, the economic wheel has turned [...]
Two more bad arguments for why Britain needs a mandatory living wage July 6, 2015 With £12bn of working age welfare cuts expected in this Budget, Conservative voices are clamouring for the “living wage” to be used as a means of reducing in-work poverty. In the past week, two celebrity former advisers to the Prime Minister, Steve Hilton and Rohan Silva, have argued the government should boost the national minimum [...]
Watch out Mike Ashley: Unite the union protesters to target Sports Direct AGM dressed as Dickensian workers over “Victorian” zero-hours contracts September 8, 2015 Sports Direct's AGM tomorrow is set to be an even more lively affair than usual. Unite the union has revealed plans for a protest outside the AGM with members dressed as Dickensian workers. They will be demanding "an end to ‘Victorian’ work practices at the retailer’s nearby Shirebrook warehouse and that the company pays [...]
July Budget 2015: Boris Johnson says cut top tax rate and introduce living wage July 6, 2015 Boris Johnson has said he thinks the government should cut the top rate of income tax from 45 pence and simultaneously make some of Britain's biggest companies pay the living wage. The London mayor argues only boosting the income of society's richest individuals is unfair, and should be matched with pay increases for low-paid employees [...]
Ikea creating a happy home for workers too as firm embraces living wage July 28, 2015 One of the crucial aspects of the chancellor’s Budget was the commitment to raise the living wage for over 25s to £9 per hour by the year 2020, a rise from the current rate of £7.20. Our immediate post-Budget research showed the policy to be very popular – across supporters of all of the [...]
Retailers send George Osborne their budget wish list June 21, 2015 British retailers are calling on the chancellor to eschew the living wage and introduce new measures to boost productivity in next month’s emergency budget. In a new submission to chancellor George Osborne, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that it wants the government to “work with the retail industry to ensure that employees are [...]
Jeremy Corbyn v David Cameron at first PMQs: A more “adult” discussion from Labour’s new leader September 16, 2015 The eagerly-awaited showdown between Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron was surprising in its timidity. Corbyn, previously promising a different kind of Prime Minister's Questions, was met by a Cameron willing to accommodate what Corbyn called a "more adult way". Corbyn began by recanting how he previously sent an email asking people to submit questions to [...]