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Revealed: government plans for police privatisation
West Midlands and Surrey police offer £1.5bn contract under which private firms may investigate crime and detain suspectsPrivate companies could take responsibility for investigating crimes, patrolling...
View ArticleMartin Rowson on the EU summit – cartoon
European leaders have met at the first EU summit not to be dominated by the Greek debt crisisMartin Rowson
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Britain needs to shape an industrial strategy | Observer editorial
The need to address the sharpest decline in manufacturing of any advanced economy over the past 30 years grows in urgency by the dayLater this week, Vince Cable, the business secretary, addresses the...
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Pension funds back George Osborne's infrastructure plan with £4bn
Chancellor's vision of building recovery with private cash for roads, high-speed railways and power stations a step closerBritish pension funds aim to launch a multibillion-pound infrastructure fund...
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Royal Mail pension assets sell-off could generate £25bn
Tories urge chancellor to spend windfall from investments to pay postal workers' retirement benefits on infrastructure projectsThe government could raise as much as £25bn by selling off assets built up...
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Police privatisation plans defended by senior officers
Association of Chief Police Officers says only radical change will allow forces to cope with cuts and protect the publicSenior police officers have strongly defended the radical extension of the role...
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Unemployment matters more than GDP or inflation | Mehdi Hasan
Jobless figures are the one major economic indicator that measures people. And they demonstrate the toll in misery across EuropeThere is a spectre haunting Europe – the spectre of mass unemployment. On...
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Top Tory: George Osborne's child benefit change never meant to happen
Chancellor had hoped to woo Tories by declaring success of economic plan allowed him to abandon child benefit withdrawalGeorge Osborne takes great pride in his reputation as the Tories' greatest...
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Letters: Treading the thin blue line on police privatisation
It's four weeks early for April Fools' Day (Revealed: hidden government plans to privatise the police, 3 March). Not only is the list of functions to be privatised "breathtaking", the very principle is...
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Osborne's child benefit changes offend basic notions of fairness
The beauty of the 'cliff edge' for the Treasury is its simplicity – a more nuanced alternative would impose considerable costsDavid Cameron is apparently suddenly all of a fluster about the "cliff...
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Patriotic economic policy needed to boost British industry, Miliband says
Labour leader accuses coalition of letting British business down, saying support for sector is crucial to jobs and growthEd Miliband has called for a new patriotic economic policy to give British firms...
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Vince Cable letter reveals cabinet unease over pace of economic recovery
Business secretary warns that the government lacks a 'compelling vision' beyond tackling Britain's record fiscal deficitCabinet unease over the slow pace of economic recovery burst into the open on...
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Peter Mandelson makes fourth comeback with a little help from foes
Former business secretary's 'industrial activism' provides inspiration for Vince Cable and Ed MilibandThe political class held its collective breath when Peter Mandelson made his third comeback in 2008...
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Banks still starving firms of capital, warns Vince Cable
Recovery is being hampered because of banks' reluctance to give loans to SMEs, says business secretaryVince Cable, the business secretary, has warned that innovative firms that are central to restoring...
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The north-east could save the UK video games industry – but it needs help |...
The region is a hub of digital talent, but the government's flawed work schemes are failing this burgeoning industryIn a desperate attempt to get the country back on its feet, the government is...
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George Osborne's austerity cuts will hit poorest families hardest, experts warn
Households with children are set to lose the most from the reforms as living standards and incomes continue to fallHouseholds with children will be £10 a week worse off next year as Britain's poorest...
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Letters: Prescott's U-turns
John Prescott has grave concerns about allowing the private sector to encroach further into policing (Comment, 8 March). He did not have these concerns in 2002 when the government in which he was...
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Letters: State sell-offs and responsible capitalism
The privatisation of state services is a reflection of two problems in Britain. The first is the undermining of the notion of the "state" and its role as regulator and guardian of the public realm and...
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Sir George Blunden obituary
Former deputy governor of the Bank of England and a steady hand in a crisisIn a career at the Bank of England spanning more than 40 years, Sir George Blunden, who has died aged 89, gained such a...
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Vince Cable hits out at 'backward' Tory rightwingers
Business secretary launches scathing attack on Tories calling for more deregulation, saying they are out of touch with realityVince Cable today mounts a bold attack on the right wing of the...
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