In maybe the most offensive manifestation of the Daily Telegraph‘s slide from serious paper of record to hate-filled propaganda rag for the literate over-80s, their personal finance editor, Ian Cowie, brings us the following suggestion to improve Britain’s democracy: …here’s an idea that might really stir up some interest – and improve our nation’s governance.Why don’t we [...]
EU gotta be kidding! Yesterday’s vote in the European Parliament’s to extend maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay across the EU should be welcomed by anyone who believes the work-life balance in the UK needs to be seriously revised. If approved, which is far from certain given Conservative opposition in Britain, it will [...]
As the trade unions awake from a decade of deep sleep and call for a wave of organised attacks against the austerity budget, I think it’s important that we get a grip on the timescales we’re talking about with these cuts, and the kinds of effects they may have. There’s a temptation to fall into [...]
Here’s the final paragraph from an online Telegraph article on the tube strike: Having trouble getting to work? Please share your tales of travel woe below. For readers who live outside London, this is your chance to gloat about your trouble-free commute. Who said conservatives don’t have a sense of humour? Yes, vent your anti-union anger if [...]
In the last month we’ve all heard about David Cameron’s proposed crackdown on benefit frauds. Lots has been said around the left about how these proposals are completely missing the mark in terms of where the government can be saving money if need be, but there hasn’t been much of a defense of the benefit [...]
So the con dem coalition are looking to make cuts a little bit more popular. And what better way than to talk about cuts to housing benefits. If you read the papers last year you would have seen a number of “scandals” over the high amounts of rent local authorities were paying to house larger [...]
BREAKING NEWS – PLEASE REPUBLISH! Earlier this afternoon all staff in the Arts and Education section of Middlesex University received the following email: Dear colleagues, Late on Monday 26 April, the Dean of the School of Arts & Humanities, Ed Esche, informed staff in Philosophy that the University executive had ‘accepted his recommendation’ to close [...]
Tonight a man’s life and livelihood hangs in the balance. He has been savagely denigrated in the national press, and the most personal details of his life laid bare. And tonight he is suspended by his employer and looks set to be sacked. His crime? To engage in the wrong kind of sexual role play [...]
As I was leaving a poker game at the School of African and Oriental Studies a week ago I saw some bloke removing a flyer from one of the trees outside. It was a manifesto for Clare Solomon’s election campaign for presidency of the University of London Union. Upon my questioning him he said something [...]
Guest post by Ben Lyons What do Blue Peter and John Bercow have in common? Neither of them pay their interns. With an increasingly competitive employment market, getting a job today often relies less on your interview skills than your ability to intern for free. An article in the New Statesman this week highlights this [...]
