By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Yep, the TUC conference is in full effect. Alongside yesterday’s talk of a general strike, we now have the suggestion that pensioners should occupy council buildings in protest at cuts; a “manifesto” for teachers that instructs them to avoid “non-teaching duties” such as supervising children at lunchtime; and — unsurprising, […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter Another year, another TUC conference, another round of dire speculation about a general strike. You see, the unions are going to debate a motion put forward by the Prison Officers’ Association, calling for “co-ordinated action with far-reaching campaigns, including the consideration and practicalities of a general strike”. If it actually […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The media coverage of today's A-level exam results has focused on two statistics. Firstly, that the overall pass mark increased to 97.8%, and secondly, that the number of students awarded top marks dropped for the first time in twenty years (good). The crackdown on grade inflation, which produced the second statistic, […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Over the last few days, some newspapers have reported stories aimed at contrasting the success of Team GB with the supposed undermining of future success by the current Government through, for example, selling off playing fields, and scrapping a target of two hours of school sports per week for […]
By Peter HoskinFollow Peter on Twitter The Durham Miners’ Gala attracts such a left-wing crowd that a trio of Labour leaders couldn't bring themselves to attend it: John Smith, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The last to do so before them was Neil Kinnock, in 1989, dutifully following on from all his predecessors since Keir […]
The Taxpayers Alliance have estimated £113 million of taxpayers' money is paid to trade unions each year. This is mainly in the form of thousands of staff being paid to do various jobs in the public sector but, in fact, working as union reps. The Cabinet Office has today published some mild proposals to curtail […]
More good news for transparency in our Town Halls. The Department for Communities and Local Government is issuing new rules, which come into effect from 1 July, making a legal requirement for councillors to declare payments and payments in kind from trade unions. Failure to do so will potentially be a criminal offence. If a […]
A key objective for Boris Johnson's second term as Mayor of London must be breaking the stranghold of the union militants over the tube network in London. At a recent Mayor's Question Time session with the London Assembly he indicated his impatience at the delay of the Government to bring in a reform that would […]
By Harry PhibbsFollow Harry on Twitter Being in opposition means you are less important than if you are in Government. Therefore, quite reasonably, the media pay less attention to you. Often this is frustrating for an opposition party. But it can also have advantages. The Labour Party have been able to get away with being muddled […]
By Harry PhibbsFollow Harry on Twitter The GMB general secretary Paul Kenny has used the union's congress to attack the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls for being "misguided and wrong" to back curbs on public sector pay. Kenny said: "The failure to wholeheartedly support public sector workers taking their lawful rights to stop work to oppose a […]
An interesting survey from the Times Educational Supplement shows that some councils are cutting back on their subsidies to the teaching unions for "facility time" by up to 50%. This is the arrangement where staff have their salary paid by the Council Taxpayer even when they are working as full time union officials. The academies […]
By JP Floru. When the state runs a queue, it goes wrong – and queues are inherent to state monopolies. It’s not just the Border Agency at Heathrow – have you been in a post office queue recently? And have you ever been in the queue to enter Parliament? I used to work for an […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Ed Miliband appeared on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. The big news to come from the Labour leader's interview was that he appears to want to take the lead on party funding. At first glance, his comments seem to present a fairly radical approach to party funding: "I’m […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey has caused outrage tonightby encouraging disruption of the Olympics through "civil disobedience". This is the full quote from The Guardian: “The unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting. If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that's exactly […]
The Conservative Councillors Association conference in Leeds this weekend will see a demonstration of leftwing militants from the trade union funded Right to Work Campaign. The unions are funding the demonstrators. But who is funding the unions? We are. Conservative MP Matthew Hancock is speaking at the conference to put the case that councils can […]