George Osborne introduces new 'living wage' but cuts working-age benefits
Chancellor portrays the Conservatives as the party of working people by declaring that the living wage will be introduced from next AprilSummer budget - as it happenedGeorge Osborne has unveiled an...
View ArticlePublic service staff face four more years of pay pain
Budget 2015: chancellor turns the screw with four-year pay cap for public servants and government departments face £20bn in cutsLocal government and the summer budget: key pointsPublic sector workers,...
View ArticleHas George Osborne really introduced a living wage?
The chancellor announced a compulsory national living wage for over-25s from next year that will rise to £9 an hour by 2020. What does it really mean?No. Even once it has risen to £9 an hour by 2020,...
View ArticleLocal government and the summer budget 2015: the key points
George Osborne’s July budget is big on devolution and welfare cuts. We follow the money, power and responsibility for councilsPublic service staff face four more years of pay painIt was trailed as the...
View ArticleBudget 2015: George Osborne promoting personal ambition over UK interests,...
Acting Labour leader Harriet Harman accuses George Osborne of using the Budget to advance his own political career at the expense of the British public. Responding after the chancellor unveiled the...
View ArticleLarry Elliot: 2015 budget is what George Osborne has been thirsting for - video
The Guardian's economics editor, Larry Elliott, says George Osborne's budget contains measures the chancellor would like to have introduced in the last parliament, had the Tory-Lib dem coalition not...
View ArticleBudget 2015 live: George Osborne announces 'living wage' of £9 an hour
Chancellor announces £17bn tax and spending savingsStudent maintenance grants to be abolished‘Non-dom’ tax status partially curbedCorporation tax cut to 19% in 20176.08pm BSTHere’s a taste of what...
View ArticleUnion warns Royal Mail over threat to working conditions
Communication Workers Union pledges industrial action if Royal Mail tries to change staff terms ahead of likely sale of government stakeThe Communication Workers Union has launched a campaign against...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne’s budget was more New Labour than Thatcherite | Martin Kettle
Yes, the chancellor delivered a regressive package, but the charge of ‘same old Tories’ is far too simplisticNo event in the political calendar is more thoroughly scrutinised yet more routinely...
View ArticleWho runs local museums and how are they surviving the funding crisis?
Local authorities don’t want to board up museums so more are turning to the community – but this brings a fresh set of problemsWho runs public parks and are they in danger of privatisation?The way our...
View ArticleGovernment unveils sweeping plan to tackle 'economic challenge of our age'
Mix of deregulation and intervention across housing, skills, universities, transport and finance aims to boost flagging productivityThe government has unveiled a wide-ranging programme designed to...
View ArticleJeb Bush wants us to work more for the collective good. Who's the socialist...
Americans already work more than our European counterparts, but the former governor wants to enact policies to force people to work even more hoursRelated: Jeb Bush says Americans ‘need to work longer...
View ArticleHas the buy-to-let gravy train gone off the rails?
It shouldn’t have taken a Tory chancellor to undo the harm unleashed on tenants by New LabourWhen this column was the first to highlight the perils of buy-to-let– both social and economic – Gordon...
View ArticleBetter to inherit a home than start a business in Osborne.uk | Will Hutton
The chancellor of the exchequer claims he wants to double exports by 2020, but his budget gives little indication as to how that might happenIncomes per head in the west have grown by broadly 40 times...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne’s Britain is no country for young men… or women | Nick Cohen
Conservative policies are often designed to protect the old at the expense of the young. The July budget was no differentI have taken to apologising for owning a home. Not in the Uriah Heepish way...
View ArticleThe Observer view of the budget | Observer editorial
George Osborne’s budgetary measures will do little to alleviate the glaring and growing inequalities in societyOn Wednesday, he was bold, brutal, astute and glaringly ambitious with an eye less on...
View ArticleUncertainty over 'Brexit' likely to delay investment in UK, Irish IDA chief...
Multinationals were probably waiting for result of British referendum on EU before deciding where to locate, says head of Irish investment authority Global corporations will think twice about investing...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne: northerners and women to gain most from living wage
Chancellor insists people based outside south-east England will feel benefit of national living wageThe chancellor, George Osborne, will respond to claims his budget welfare reforms hit the poor...
View ArticleDavid Cameron open to idea of workers saving up to fund own sick pay
PM’s spokeswoman says he is prepared to consider making people pay into savings accounts to cover periods of illness or unemploymentDavid Cameron is prepared to look at making workers pay into flexible...
View ArticleHarriet Harman's wake-up call roused Labour to anger
The interim leader, fearing a high price for a summer of sleepwalking, decided to lead. She led her party into disarrayIt is hard to think what, if anything, has gone right for the Labour party since...
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