News

Election fraud is growing in Britain, says a report headed by former communities secretary and now anti-corruption czar Sir Eric Pickles published on 12 August.

Housing: billions in subsidies for landlords

Figures published in August show that over £9 billion a year is now paid in housing benefits to people living in private rented accommodation.

Wind power: planning for subsidies

Planning permission for the world’s largest wind farm has been agreed 55 miles off the Flamborough coast – but the developer wants even higher subsidies than normal.

Local government: divisions over pay

As the 2016-17 pay claim looms. Unison, GMB and Unite cannot agree what the claim should be – so Unison has decided to go solo.

Khan cooperates with extension of Internet snooping

23 August 2016

London's Mayor Sadiq Khan has reacted to reports of a rise in cases of abuse in the aftermath of the EU referendum result – with an extension of state snooping.

Air pollution killing Londoners

5 August 2016

Londoners are falling ill and dying because the capital has levels of nitrogen oxides comparable to those of Shanghai and Beijing, according to a new report published in July.

North Sea oil workers vote for strike over pay

14 July 2016

More than 200 Unite and RMT workers in the Wood Group working on Shell’s North Sea platforms have voted in favour of strike action over pay.

'Almighty mess' of NHS privatisation

11 July 2016

The NHS’s Primary Care Support Services were privatised in April, transferred to multinational profit-sucker Capita, along with over a thousand workers – and things have not gone well.

EU and NATO ramp up tension with Russia

11 July 2016

If any British workers doubted that the EU and NATO are two sides of the same coin, the EU–NATO leaders’ declaration of 9 July 2016 to deploy more troops and weapons on Russia’s borders should remove them.

After Brexit, plan for power generation!

3 July 2016

The Brexit decision has thrown government plans for electricity generation into further turmoil, with renewed concerns over the future of the proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.

The other referendum - junior doctors vote on contract

1 July 2016

Voting ends today (1 July) in the "Members Referendum" of junior doctors on whether to accept the terms negotiated by their union, the British Medical Association, to settle their long-running dispute with the government over seven-day working.

Teachers strike for education

Teachers have long railed against their growing workload, whose bureaucratic nature, ironically, means less time in the classroom.

Unemployment surges in France

30 June 2016

After two months of falls in France’s jobless totals, the number out of work rose again. Meanwhile, the government is imposing drastic changes in labour legislation to meet EU fiscal targets.

London's largest borough gears up for health fight

29 June 2016

Recent proposals for the borough’s healthcare include putting all health-related community services out to tender and axing student nurses from primary and secondary schools. Resistance may be on the cards

Bluff and bluster from Holyrood

29 June 2016

Conveniently forgetting that over a million people in Scotland voted to quit the EU, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon now is now threatening to veto our leaving. She must know she can’t.

VW scandal deepens

The European Commission was told six years ago that VW was cheating on emissions tests, but it kept the knowledge secret

University pay fight continues

Academic staff in higher education are in dispute with university employers over their pay.

Tribunals - Government condemned

Since the government’s reforms of employment tribunal legislation curbing employment rights in 2013, the trade unions have challenged them through a series of judicial reviews.

Pensions - Progress at Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce bucks the trend and has taken the brave decision to support its British workforce and maintain its final salary pension scheme.

Energy - Grid turns to the NHS

National Grid, the company responsible for balancing supply and demand, is recruiting cash-starved NHS hospitals to fire up their emergency generators and turn down their air conditioning systems when power supplies are scarce.

Industry - Dagenham's End

The sale for housing of the 42-acre Ford stamping site in Dagenham for brings to an end the 90-year history of vehicle manufacturing.

Gold: Barclays sells 'secret' vault

26 June 2016

The recent sale of the Barclays “secret” gold and precious metals vault, allegedly somewhere inside the M25, to the Chinese bank ICBC highlights the murky role of British banking interests.

London cabbies make a stand against Uber

23 June 2016

With protests continuing, CPBML News has been speaking to a black cab driver about the controversial app-based transportation network.

German courts bow to supremacy of EU

22 June 2016

Germany’s top judges have retreated on a crucial issue. Unable to assert their judicial supremacy, they are bowing to the EU.

European research funding diverted to prop up Private Finance Initiative

20 June 2016

Anyone relying on European Union funding from the Horizon 2020 programme should take note: when the Commission decides it, billions of euros can be siphoned off and used for its pet projects.

EU moves to remove national vetoes on trade deals

19 June 2016

Reports from Germany suggest that the European Commission is trying to find a way to block any national veto by the UK or any other member state of its free trade agreements.

EU to Ireland: charge for water or pay the price

17 June 2016

The European Commission has said that Ireland may face daily disciplinary fines if the Irish government continues to suspend water charges.

Fight EU trade deals, says African union leader

16 June 2016

African trade unionists are calling on their countries to reject the European Commission’s latest attempt to impose a free trade deals on the continent.

Fishing flotilla demands "leave the EU"

15 June 2016