In Britain's labour market 'flexibility' means letting employers off the hook
The idea that zero-hours contracts somehow benefit staff is undermined by the fact so many people on them wish they weren’tZero-hours contracts are the ultimate expression of Britain’s “flexible”...
View ArticleAlmost 700,000 people in UK have zero-hours contract as main job
Figures show staff deals with no guaranteed hours have risen 26% since last year with number of such contracts jumping from 1.4m in 2013 to 1.8mNearly 700,000 people are on zero-hours contracts in...
View ArticleUK business investment falls at fastest rate since financial crisis
Drop of 1.4% in last quarter driven by energy companies reining in North Sea spending amid falling oil priceInvestment spending by UK businesses fell at the fastest rate in almost six years at the end...
View ArticleEd Miliband sleep-talks into EEF's manufacturing conference
Labour leader tries to love-bomb engineering employers by saying nothing much at all about apprenticeships and Local Enterprise PartnershipsHaving failed to show just how much he really loved business...
View ArticleEmployers embrace the warm glow of paying their staff enough to live on
The Walmart effect and the example of certain London local councils has led to pay rises for many. But poverty wages elsewhere could be hard to shiftFfyona Dawber has given her four least well-paid...
View ArticleUK prepares for pensions spending spree – but is that the best long-term plan?
George Osborne’s reforms have freed up people’s pension cash - now they can spend it on cars, yachts and travel even before they retireFifty-five-year-old Andy Williams from Fife plans to retire in 10...
View ArticleA-Z of the general election 2015
The general election campaign starts officially on 30 March, but the early skirmishes have already begun. Here, from the pink bus to new media and gaffes to opinion polls, is your indispensable guide...
View ArticleWhy bite-size thinking is as bad for the economy as it may be for our brains
We risk losing a lot more than our patience as tweets and cat videos put an end to long-termismDelayed gratification: it’s an important life skill we try to teach our children when they want that...
View ArticleWho is the Bank of England kidding? Interest rates are going nowhere
Government ministers are happy to perpetuate monetary policy committee mythology over interest rates as it takes the heat off them Like John Major’s early 1990s government, the Bank of England gives...
View ArticleThe spread of western disease: 'The poor are dying more and more like the rich'
For the first time, more people in developing countries die from strokes and heart attacks than infectious diseases, but there are cost effective ways to save livesDeath by chocolate: the sugar-fueled...
View ArticleWe’re desperate to believe in something. But bringing God into economics is...
To those like the ‘good right’ seeking a new moral vision for Britain, the false idols and unintended consequences of Thatcherism offer a cautionary taleWith just over two months to go until polling...
View ArticleFirst Virgin Trains East Coast service leaves London
The reprivatised rail service embarked on its first journey on Monday but debate still rages whether it is best in private or public handsThe first repainted, rebranded and reprivatised Virgin Trains...
View ArticleUniversity ideals and Labour’s tuition fee policy | Letters
Universities, you say, are “about more than the acquisition of a checklist of professional competences” (Editorial, 28 February). Absolutely. But Cardinal Newman’s “idea of a university” encompassed...
View ArticleSNP abandons Alex Salmond's pledge to cut Scotland's corporation tax
Nicola Sturgeon launches economic strategy that allows for ‘targeted’ tax cuts rather than wholesale reduction advocated by her predecessor as first ministerThe Scottish government has abandoned its...
View ArticleIgnore the ‘pro-business’ rhetoric: a pro-rich government is anti-business |...
No party can claim to be ‘pro-business’ if it is soft on tax avoiders and market fixers – that only hurts other businessesDespite the best efforts of some of its members to discredit it with market...
View ArticleCBI urges help for medium-sized firms in upcoming budget
Business group asks George Osborne for measures to boost growth of UK’s Mittelstand in last budget before the general electionChancellor George Osborne should use his final budget before the general...
View ArticleBritain’s stunted ‘recovery’ leaves us wishing for what might have been |...
So household incomes are back to 2007 levels. This isn’t evidence of success but confirmation of how dismal economic performance has beenHousehold incomes are back to 2007 levels, before the crisis –...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne finds wriggle room to provide budget giveaways
It seems the judgment that the chancellor had no cash to spare for pre-election lollipops may well have been prematureAt the time of last December’s autumn statement, received wisdom in Westminster was...
View ArticleVince Cable calls for relaxation of spending controls
Business secretary opens up division with Tories by calling for investment in skills training and rail schemesVince Cable has warned that the next government must relax Whitehall spending budgets to...
View ArticleLib Dems unsure whether to stick or twist with Tories in the budget
Coalition partners are increasingly divided on issues such as deficit reduction, capital investment and tax risesThe Liberal Democrats are discussing the extent to which the budget on 18 March can be...
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