Working and poor
Poverty used to be synonymous with unemployment. Of course, there have always been poverty wages.
Feature boxes
Feature boxes
May's defence surrender
Theresa May’s Withdrawal Treaty would require Britain to comply with EU defence directives and therefore with the European Court of Justice, which would supervise the treaty’s implementation.
Cuba's thriving biotech
There is one country where there is no “Valley of Death” where lack of investment chokes off new biotech products – Cuba.
The green vendetta against artificial insulin
Forty years ago researchers created a synthetic form of insulin, the hormone that controls levels of sugar in the blood. Some greens weren’t happy.
How genome editing works
Genome editing involves the deliberate modification of a specific sequence of DNA in a living cell.
Too much of a good thing?
The global steel sector is again in a state of overcapacity, at the greatest level it has ever been.
Apprenticeship levy – we need a better way
For too long companies in Britain had relied on being able to import ready-skilled workers. That creates low levels of skill (not to be confused with low levels of potential) said to cost the British economy £2 billion a year.
1: Gas prices flare
The biggest jump in British gas prices in 8 years has prompted concerns in industry and government about over security of supply and an ever increasing reliance on imports of natural gas
2: The 'national' grid
The National Grid provides part of Britain’s fundamental and essential strategic industrial infrastructure.
1: The road from the WTO to Free Trade Agreements
Multinational corporations, the largest of which dwarf many countries’ economies, want all trade to be regulated in their own interests.
2: The EU's new colonialism
The European Union has been working hard at pressurising developing countries into free trade agreements.
1: Farmers union looks forward
British farmers should deliver an increasing proportion of the nation’s requirement for high quality, safe, affordable food.
2: 'Fundamentally flawed'
Paying land owners for the amount of agricultural land they have is unjust, inefficient and drives perverse outcomes.
The aims of Soviet socialism
Only a revolution genuinely committed to the interests of the people, to obliterating poverty and hardship would commit to such a course.
PFIs – lucrative and lethal
Remember Private Finance Initiatives? These 30-year lease-back deals to bring public money into private hands are now notorious as very bad value for money.
Brussels eyes procurement
The EU wants a single military procurement policy, coordinated by a newly empowered European Defence Agency.
Out of control?
There is a wide variety of education and group care for pre-school children.
‘Free movement’?
Free movement of labour from inside and outside the EU has seen employers taking on staff at below even the minimum wage.
Focus on training
With support from the government and the trade unions, the industry must create and sustain high-skilled jobs along with modern apprenticeships
The less you earn, the higher the interest
Many graduates will spend their 30s and 40s dealing with effective tax rates of above 50 per cent.
The road to £9,250 fees
Looking back over the past two decades, the history of student fees is starting to look like a relay race.
The EU's military vision
The EU's idea of the role of a European military force has been expounded by "High Representative" Frederica Mogherini
Strikes hit new low
According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics, 81,000 workers went on strike in 2015 – the lowest number since records began in 1893.
Sharia - a recent introduction
Maryam Namazie of One Law for All gave evidence to the government review of sharia law and faced hostile responses.
With the single market, why train at all?
The EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive – or MRPQ – is a fundamental component of the Single Market. It allows professionals to have their qualifications, obtained in one member state, recognised in another.
Manchester: flats, flats, flats
Manchester is now top of the table for growth in house prices, having increased by 8.8 per cent in the year ending February.
Gagged and bound: the fine print of a casual contract
A worker under EU and UK employment law has limited if very few employment rights compared with an employee who has contractual and statutory rights.
Customs union – another unification ploy
The Scottish and Welsh regional administrations are urging the government to stay in the single market – predictably, since it effectively means staying in the EU and under the authority of its Court of Justice. But they are also calling for Britain to stay in the Customs Union.