The flipside of the online Christmas shopping miracle | Felicity Lawrence
Sports Direct is no aberration: Dickensian conditions are now the daily experience of many UK workersWhen you are ordering Christmas presents from the comfort of your armchair, online shopping feels...
View ArticleSports Direct is a reflection of the modern British economy | Letters
Sports Direct seems to be a metaphor for the modern British economy. “The conscious strategy would seem to be to rely on cheap labour rather than costly investment,” as your editorial (11 December)...
View ArticleIMF boss Christine Lagarde says she wants Britain to stay in EU
George Osborne welcomes upbeat assessment of UK economy from Washington-based organisationThe managing director of the International Monetary Fund has said she wants Britain to stay in the EU, warning...
View ArticleWhat next for buy-to-let landlords struggling to make ends meet?
Ajay Ahuja has made millions from investing in property – but now he’s selling up. Will others follow suit as recent tax increases start to bite? We investigateMany of Britain’s biggest buy-to-let...
View ArticleBeware the balancing act in George Osborne’s false economy
The chancellor’s doctrinaire insistence on a surplus in both current and capital accounts is truly astonishing in a looming worldwide economic slowdownThe more one sees of George Osborne – and this is...
View ArticleCitizen’s income and economic ideas which are true and good | Letters
Declan Gaffney (Even in Finland, universal basic income is too good to be true, 10 December) is right: a universal basic income, or citizen’s income – an unconditional income for every individual...
View ArticleThree police forces still at risk of budget cuts, government admits
Minister says funding of forces that protect transport system, army barracks and nuclear power infrastructure is not safeguarded by chancellor’s pledgeThree police forces are at risk of having their...
View ArticleThe strange case of America’s disappearing middle class | Paul Mason
Middle America is being squeezed from both ends, by the rich and the poor. This new insecurity is fertile territory for the likes of Donald TrumpThe shot was of two women in party dresses taking a...
View ArticleUK pay rises likely to fade fast, thinktank warns
Resolution Foundation says expected inflation rise will quickly see off any real terms pay growth unless productivity increases significantlyBritain’s long-awaited pay recovery this year will quickly...
View ArticleThe Guardian view on Britain’s jobs market: Osborne could use Scrooge’s...
2015 has been the year of the pay rise – in 2016 we may not be so lucky“What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour...
View ArticleDoha is dead. Hopes for fairer global trade shouldn’t die, too
It’s a sign of how Doha failed that leftwing protestors no longer target it as a symbol of capitalism. But some good things will fade with itOver the past few days, trade ministers from scores of...
View ArticleMy hero in 2015? The man with the plan to beat the cuts | Aditya Chakrabortty
Few will have heard of local union leader John Burgess, but he is now confronting the nightmare we will all faceJohn Burgess talks a mile a minute, dresses in any colour as long as it’s black, and...
View ArticleWhat next for poor countries fighting to trade in an unfair world? | Kevin...
The Doha round’s promise of better market access for the poorest nations, cuts in farm subsidies and fairer trade rules has come to nothingThe setting was a lakeside in Geneva and the cast was as...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne’s economic miracle is built on a mountain of personal debt |...
The Tories’ failed model and stagnant economy has encouraged an unsustainable rise in household debt. Labour needs to come up with a viable alternativeTis the season to whip out the credit card. As I...
View ArticleLatest borrowing figures threaten Osborne's deficit target
Budget deficit 10% higher last month than in November 2014 – although one-off factors such as £1.1bn in bank fines played a partFears were heightened on Tuesday that George Osborne will miss his...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne's economic year ends with a bump
With the ONS cutting the UK growth rate and government borrowing now much higher than forecast the chancellor’s star appears to be waningGeorge Osborne’s year has ended with a bump. Like a Strictly...
View ArticleUK economy weaker than expected - as it happened
Analysts believe growth figures of 0.4% mean no interest rate rise until well into 20162.38pm GMTTaking its lead from markets elsewhere, Wall Street has opened sharply higher as commodity prices - oil...
View ArticleMore pain for George Osborne as ONS cuts UK economic growth
GDP estimate for third quarter cut from 0.5% to 0.4% after sharp slowdown in services, meaning UK chancellor is unlikely to hit growth forecastsGeorge Osborne has received a second pre-Christmas...
View ArticleAusterity, injustice and the forces of callous Conservatism
Cameron and Osborne blame their spending cuts on the Blair/Brown legacy, when really it’s all about their obsession with tax cutsI did not get where I am today predicting the future of the Labour...
View Article'Coin-toss chancellor' Osborne's 50/50 chance of meeting budget target
Shadow chancellor highlights downgrading by official economists of likelihood of budget being in surplus by end of parliamentGeorge Osborne has been described by his Labour counterpart as the...
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