Gig economy: Defeat for Uber
The GMB union is claiming a “historic win” after the Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed but are workers.
News
News
The return of breast screening units
20 February 2021
Most breast screening programmes in Britain were paused in March 2020 because of Covid-19. Screening has since restarted, but there’s much to be done as almost a million women have missed mammograms.
Government to ditch disastrous NHS ‘reforms’
11 February 2021
The government is to reverse the central thrust of the 2012 NHS reforms. Central planning is back on the agenda, finally.
A bad week for Project Fear
9 February 2021
It’s been a lousy few days for the doomsday merchants, the ones who said that companies would flee Britain once Brexit bit.
Steep cost of separatism revealed
9 February 2021
A new analysis of the prospects for Scotland should the SNP succeed in detaching it from the rest of Britain makes grim reading for the separatists.
Chocolate’s coming home
9 February 2021
International food giant Mondelez is shifting the bulk of its Cadbury’s Dairy Milk production back to Britain. This reverses much of the outsourcing that took place in 2017.
Covid-19: Russian lessons for British schools
7 February 2021
Russia’s main opposition party is campaigning for the “natural right” of children to go to school in the face of widespread closures.
Thousands write to contest universities pensions valuation
2 February 2021
Universities staff have had enough of being forced to pay exorbitant pensions contributions solely because their scheme is making unrealistic assumptions about the future.
Long-term commitment to Barnoldswick site confirmed
24 January 2021
Rolls-Royce has confirmed its commitment to the long-term future of the Barnoldswick site by guaranteeing that it will remain as a manufacturing facility for the next ten years.
SNP in bid to stop test case for unilateral referendum
23 January 2021
Scotland’s Attorney General told its highest court on Friday 21 January that the pro-separatist campaigner seeking a ruling that the Scottish parliament can lawfully hold a second “independence” referendum unilaterally lacks the legal standing to bring his case.
Deep mining again in Cumbria
17 January 2021
The first new deep coalmine in Britain for over 30 years will go ahead in Cumbria. It will supplying coking coal for steelmaking.
PPE: local firms step up
17 January 2021
A Yorkshire company has developed new production facilities for personal protective equipment, one of many innovations from British firms in the face of the pandemic.
British Gas: no to fire and rehire
12 January 2021
British Gas engineers were on strike for 5 days in defence of their pay and conditions. More action will follow unless the company withdraws the threat of firing and rehiring workers on worse conditions.
Brexit dividend as government consults on gene editing
10 January 2021
Taking advantage of Brexit, the government has launched a consultation on whether to change the law on genetically modified organisms to allow companies and researchers to use gene editing more freely.
Call to double medical school places
10 January 2021
The Royal College of Physicians has set out plans to double the number of medical school places, planning for Britain’s needs for the next ten years and beyond.
Barnoldswick strike yields 'landmark deal'
10 January 2021
Nine weeks of strike action at the Rolls-Royce factory in Barnoldswick have been suspended as the workforce considered what their union calls a “landmark deal” to secure the future of the site.
Cargo handlers strike at Heathrow
29 December 2020
Cargo workers belonging to the Unite union began a nine-day strike on Christmas Day in a dispute with employer BA over its attempts to use fire and rehire tactics to impose new deep cuts in pay and conditions.
Slashed investment threatens switch to rail freight
29 December 2020
The rail freight sector’s slow recovery during the summer from the impact of Covid-19 has prompted calls for a national programme of investment in freight infrastructure.
Boost for shipbuilding
The government announced an increase in defence spending in the House of Commons on 19 November 2020
Fisheries - More powers for Navy
The Royal Navy is preparing to protect Britain’s fishing waters in the event of a no-deal Brexit by deploying four patrol ships, according to news reports.
Afghanistan - Civilian deaths soar
US President Donald Trump’s rundown of ground forces in Afghanistan was accompanied by an escalation in the air war – resulting in hundreds of civilian deaths...
BT staff yes to action vote
Communications Workers Union BT Group membership responded to a consultative ballot on industrial action in defence of job security and terms and conditions with a huge 97.9 per cent yes vote.
SNP ferries fiasco
Ageing ferry ships that have provided life-line services to dozens of islands around the coasts of Scotland should have been replaced in 2018...
Brexit - The chips are down
Britain is not the only country whose agriculture has been distorted by the EU...
Electric Cars - Cornish promise
In a big boost for electric vehicle battery production in Britain, mining exploration company Cornish Lithium announced significant investment...
Covid-19 - Normal Service
Hardly any libraries in the whole of Britain’s higher education system maintained their usual services through the fraught 2020 autumn term.
Rolls-Royce comes back for more redundancies
4 December 2020
Aerospace workers at Barnoldswick, Lancashire, who have been striking in defence of jobs, have been further hit by further proposed job losses by employer Rolls-Royce.
Covid-19: Lessons from Liverpool
1 December 2020
The news that Liverpool is to enter Tier 2 when the current restrictions end this week is a challenge to the government’s default top-down, we-know-what’s-best-for-you approach to dealing with the pandemic.
Pledge to rebuild British shipbuilding
28 November 2020
The government is promising that increased defence spending will help revive British shipbuilding. People will be demanding that it does.
Home-grown promise of small nuclear reactors
25 November 2020
Government funding for advanced nuclear technologies could help end Britain's reliance on Chinese and French companies for new nuclear power stations.