From January 2015, rail fares will rise by 3.5%. That’s up 25% since 2010
Can KJ, Chris and Fee find a silver lining?... SOURCE GUARDIAN: Rail fares to rise by average of 3.5% in JanuaryRail fares will rise by an average of 3.5% in January, with some increasing by up to 5.5%, adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of commuters' season tickets. Calls for the government to curb planned rises intensified as Labour said it would cap fares on every route and indicated it
Graphs at a glance: East Coast Mainline. Why is the government so quiet about one of its greatest success stories?
You would have thought a company delivering record levels of cash to the taxpayer would have something to boast about. Surely its bosses would want to crow about how they turned around a failing franchise that had been abandoned by the previous two franchisees. You’d think they would use this laudable fact to justify a round of plump bonuses and a topping payrise. And yet they are
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 14th Aug)
London gets 24 times as much spent on infrastructure per resident than north-east England Figures derived from a research report by IPPR, show Londoners receive £5,203 more per head on capital investment than people in the north-east – a discrepancy sure to reignite a long-running row on whether London’s growth is coming at the detriment of the rest of the UK. One third of planned
Why do the Tories want to privatise the successful state-owned East Coast Mainline? The clue is in the question
SOURCE DAILY MAIL: East Coast Main Line pays the taxpayer a record £235million sparking renewed calls for it to stay nationalised East Coast Main Line paid a record £235million in profits back to the taxpayer in its final full year as a state-owned company, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. The amount was revealed in its latest set of accounts and was made up of a £
Graphs At A Glance: The poorest two income deciles are the real 'property owning classes'
Well, I have to say this one surprised me when I first saw it. The lowest two deciles by income have the highest proportion owning their homes outright, with no outstanding mortgage. There are many ways to rationalise this: Poorest slowly pay off their mortgage over decades, and stay put. Poorest inherit from parents, and don't move on. Poorest live in cheaper areas, requiring lower mortgages
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 7th Aug)
Publicly-owned East Coast Mainline successfully pays taxpayers “dividend” of £1bn, sparking fresh reprivatisation fury The east coast mainline paid a record £235m back to the government in its final full year as a state-owned company, a 12% increase on the previous year. That means the franchise, run by Directly Operated Railways (DOR), has returned more than £1bn to the public purse over the
No joke. The promised upturn in house building has now run into a shortage of building materials!
Fee and KJ wonder if anyone is surprised... SOURCE GUARDIAN: Brick shortages as homebuilding grows at fastest rate since 2003 Activity in the construction sector as a whole continued to rise quickly, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in June, according the Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI report. As builders continued their recovery after being badly hit by the recession, there were
Graphs at a glance: Are the improving unemployment figures all they seem to be? Dig a little deeper into the stats and see what you will find.
Wages in the UK continue to fall in real terms (rising slower than inflation) in spite of an improving labour market. So are these falling unemployment figures really all that encouraging? Office of National Statistics (ONS) Labour Market Statistics count "anybody who carries out at least one hour’s paid work in a week" as "being employed". Which means the self-employed and those on
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 31st July)
Regulators want reckless bankers to be criminally liable under new plans The bosses of leading City firms are to be made more accountable for their actions under proposals that could make them wait up to seven years for their bonuses and potentially be jailed if their banks fail. Responding to recommendations made by the parliamentary commission on banking standards, the two main City
Lloyds fined £218m for rigging Libor and the taxpayer-backed bailout scheme that saved them
SOURCE BBC NEWS: Lloyds fined £218m over Libor rate rigging scandal Lloyds manipulated the London interbank offered rate (Libor) for yen and sterling and tried to rig the rate for yen, sterling and the US dollar. Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland have previously paid $453m and $612m in fines related to the Libor scandal. But a "novel" development, setting the bank aside from
Graphs At A Glance: Elections in the UK are decided by people who don't vote.
A survey by the market research organisation Survation looked into why people don't vote: In answer to another question in the same survey: "If a UK general election was held tomorrow, would you be likely to vote or not?",
At last! From September 2014 financial education becomes part of the national curriculum in schools!
Fee, KJ and Chris wonder what difference it'll make... Association for Citizenship Teaching: GCSE Citizenship Studies continues to be used by many schools and centres across the country with just under 54,000 candidates attaining the qualification in 2013. The provisional statistics for the subject published by the Joint Council for Qualifications show that overall candidate numbers
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 25th July)
U-turn: RBS bosses 'wilfully obtuse' over alleged mistreatment of small firms Senior directors at RBS have been strongly criticised for giving misleading evidence to MPs investigating claims that the bank mistreated small firms. An earlier report by Lawrence Tomlinson, a Government adviser, alleged that the bank’s Global Restructuring Group (GRG) division was forcing small businesses into
We need to cut wages to stay competitive? But our wages are already lower than our rivals'
SOURCE INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: UK Employment Rate Hits Record High but Pay Decline Worsens The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK employment rate hit 73.1% in March to May 2014, the highest rate on record. The unemployment rate dropped to 6.5% over the same period, from 6.9% before. But total pay growth, which includes bonuses, slowed sharply to 0.3% - a record low.
Graphs at a glance: Britain is a low-pay economy with falling average wages. Beware of politicians bearing legislation to push wages down further.
The economic crisis caused by the banking crash of 2008 has been used as a smokescreen for many fundamental changes in Britain. UK GDP has already recovered to its pre-crisis level. However employment rights, pension rights, legal rights and more have been permanently cut under cover of this temporary crisis. Among the most basic rights is pay. Since the 2008 crisis pay in both public and
Since the 2008 bank collapse the incomes of those under 30 have fallen 13%, almost twice as much as anyone else’s
Chris and his wife figure out who's rescuing who... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Young adults hit hardest by financial crisis: Think-tank claims real incomes of those under 30 fell 13% since 2008 Between 2008 and 2013, the real household income of the under 30s fell by 13 per cent while among 31 to 59 year-olds, the fall in household income was just over half that at 7 per cent. The IFS said the
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 17th July)
Young adults hit hardest by financial crisis: Think-tank claims real incomes of those under 30 fell 13% since 2008 Between 2008 and 2013, the real household income of the under 30s fell by 13 per cent while among 31 to 59 year-olds, the fall in household income was just over half that at 7 per cent. The IFS said the employment rate among the under-30s fell by 4 per cent following the
Graphs at a glance: The UK has the worst investment record of the 27 EU nations, so where does all the money go?
For years one of the favourite excuses for making all us Ripped-off Britons worse off by hiking prices and keeping down wages has been the need to pay for "investment". Energy , telecoms and transport companies warn of blackouts and overcrowding unless we swallow price hikes for "investment". Employers and governments say wages and pensions can't go up because the money kept from us is
FTSE fat cats now earn 180 times the average worker's wage, as their salaries hit £4.7m a year
SOURCE DAILY MAIL: FTSE fat cats now earn 180 times the average worker, as their salaries hit £4.7m a year The gap between bosses and workers has soared over the past 20 years - from just 60 times the average wage in the 1990s. On average the bosses of Britain's 100 biggest companies took home £4.7million last year - up from £4.1million the year before, according to the High Pay Centre.
Graphs at a glance: If you needed at least 50% of voters' votes to win an election, Parliament would have ZERO MPs.
How many votes should you get to win an election? Whether for Parliament or for industrial action? David Cameron proposed that a 'threshold' must be passed in addition to being 'first past the post'. Boris Johnson would like the threshold to be at least 50% of eligible voters (including those that don't vote). Both politicians intend this threshold only for strike ballots. But what if a
Low union ballot turnout means they have no mandate to strike against no-mandate Tories? Welcome to democracy in the UK!
Chris, KJ and Fee do the sums... SOURCE BBC NEWS: Public sector strikes hit schools and services around the UK Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in rallies and marches across the UK as part of a day of strike action by public service unions. Teachers, firefighters and council workers joined the strike, which follows disputes with the government over pay, pensions and cuts.
Graphs At A Glance: How many people actually voted FOR the ruling party in recent general elections?
How much support should a cause have? From Unions wanting strikes for more pay to governments wanting the power to wield the bountiful ladle of taxing and spending? Since 1979 no ruling party has ever had the votes of more than 1 in 3 of voters in a British General Election. Since 2001 no ruling party has ever had the votes of more than 1 in 4 of voters in a British General Election. http://
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 10th July)
Rents rose FOUR times faster than earnings in the last year as demand continues to surge The latest figures from the Homelet Rental Index show that UK private home rents have risen 7.5 per cent in the last year, compared to a 1.7 per cent rise in wages. Homelet also found evidence that more affluent tenants are entering the rental market, helping to drive up prices and reducing the options of
£50m Network Rail fine means less money for maintenance. But more for super-fast wi-fi. Go figure
SOURCE GUARDIAN: Network Rail fined more than £50m for late trains The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has slapped a £53.1m fine on the track operator, the biggest it has yet levied for missing targets. Last year, almost one in six long-distance trains ran late, nearly twice as many as permitted by the 92% punctuality target. More than one in 10 commuter trains in London and the
Graphs at a glance: Wonga's phoney lawyer letters. What's really shocking, the same tactic is used by high street banks, utility companies, and the government!
Wonga sent phoney lawyer's letter to 45,000 customers between 2008 to 2010. Shocked? You shouldn't be. Not because it's just the sort of thing Wonga would do. But because it's just the sort of thing companies in Britain do to Ripped-Off Britons, as we shall show: In the very same week of the Wonga phoney-letter judgement several Blue Chip British companies were caught out doing the same. The
Billionaires, bankers, and lobbyists at glittering dinner that gives them access to top Tories
Chris and a top Tory try to clear up any misunderstandings... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: PM's party for donors - with an £11bn guest list: Billionaires, bankers, and lobbyists among attendees at glittering dinner that gave them access to top Tories A list of billionaires, bankers and lobbyists who received £12,000-a-table access to David Cameron and other senior Cabinet ministers was published
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 3rd July)
Nestle agrees to pay living wage to all contractors Nestle, the world's largest food company, has become the first major manufacturer to say it will pay the living wage to all its staff. The firm already pays the living wage to its 8,000 employees but Nestle says it will now extend this to its 800 contractors by the end of 2017. Nestle UK & Ireland chief executive Fiona Kendrick said: "As a
“The banks are too big to fail.” Is that why they continue with their dodgy dealings and scams, despite the massive fines?
SOURCE GUARDIAN: BNP Paribas regrets misconduct that led to record $8.8bn fine US prosecutors said the bank had engaged in a "long-term, multi-jurisdictional conspiracy" involving currency trades for clients in Sudan, Iran and Cuba that was known at the highest levels at the company. Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, the bank's chief executive, said the misconduct was "something that goes against the
Police to re-consider investigating Wonga for sending bullying letters from fake solicitors to 45,000 customers
Fee, KJ and Chris do some maths... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Why isn't Wonga in the dock? Fury at payday lender over bogus legal letters used to bully debtors Britain’s biggest payday lender was yesterday named and shamed by the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA ordered it to pay more than £2.6million in compensation to 45,000 customers who received the bogus letters. But
Graphs at a glance: "Pension Schemes Bill" legislation makes it easier for companies to jettison retired staff
In June 2014 Parliament started debating a key change to the nation's pensions, the "Pension Schemes Bill". According to the Department of Works and Pensions' press release, "Public backing means full steam ahead for pension reforms". As it apparently already has your backing, dear fellow ripped-off Britons, we thought you should know more about what you are so keen on. The proposed
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 26th June)
Barclays shares fall 6.5% on new fraud accusation The New York attorney general has filed a fraud lawsuit against Barclays. The lawsuit alleges the bank falsified documents and misrepresented benefits it was offering to big institutional clients, including pension funds. It relates to the bank's "dark pool" trading operations, which allow clients to trade large blocks of shares while keeping
Fat Cat Football: Why German football is superior to English, on and off the field
Germany has much lower ticket prices German clubs are owned by their fans German clubs depend on sponsorship, not high ticket prices German clubs think long-term Germany has much lower ticket prices Ticket prices are low in the Bundesliga: the average price for the cheapest tickets is just over £10. In the Premier League, fans pay upwards of £28 for the cheapest tickets. At Bayern
NHS tops world healthcare table, and is second most cost-efficient. So why the cuts?!
SOURCE TELEGRAPH: Britain's NHS is the world's best health-care system, says report The NHS has been declared the world's best healthcare system by an international panel of experts who rated its care superior to countries which spend far more on health. The same study also castigated healthcare provision in the US as the worst globally. Despite putting the most money into health, America
Another tragic performance at a World Cup. Is it our overpaid players? No grassroots investment?
Chris and KJ look to the German model... OUR RELATED STORIES: Fat Cat Football: Why German football is superior to British, on and off the field Runaway Premier League football wages are damaging the national game Who needs fat cat pay? The Germans don't. See the comparison with the UK
Graphs at a glance: Interest rates rising? Whether they go up or down, we are the losers.
The Governor of the Bank of England has said the official Bank Rate, commonly known as the Base Rate of interest, is going to go up sooner than we think. The Bank of England website explains what this official rate is for: “The Bank of England sets an interest rate at which it lends to financial institutions. This interest rate then affects the whole range of interest rates set by
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 19th June)
NHS is the world's best healthcare system, says international panel of experts The NHS has been declared the world's best healthcare system by an international panel of experts who rated its care superior to countries which spend far more on health. The same study also castigated healthcare provision in the US as the worst globally. Despite putting the most money into health, America denies
Cuts mean prisoners kill themselves or opt for punishment blocks to escape overcrowding, says Chief Inspector of Prisons
SOURCE GUARDIAN: Prisons face overcrowding due to policy failure, says watchdog The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, issued a stark warning that cuts had left the system so stretched that more inmates were killing themselves or getting deliberately sent to punishment blocks to escape crowded conditions. The justice secretary, Chris Grayling, rejected the criticisms, insisting
See the effect of badly planned cost cutting in the NHS, Military, Home Office, DWP etc. Britain is choking on a diet of austerity
Remember those ‘diet breads’: 25% fewer calories per slice? Achieved by 25% smaller slices? Outsourcing companies have used the same ruse to win vast government contracts. Promising great savings (slimming down), achieved by employing fewer and less qualified people and paying them less (less bread). Diet breads charged you more to give you less.You risk your health if you don’t understand
The Association of Chief Police Officers said the planned London water cannon may be used during protests against "ongoing and potential future austerity measures"
Chris, Fee and KJ work out things could get better - briefly - before they get worse... SOURCE SKY NEWS: Boris Johnson says 'Blast Me With Water Cannon'. Boris Johnson has offered to be blasted by a water cannon to show they are safe as the political row over the weapon intensifies. The London Mayor has ordered three water cannon for the capital despite the Home Secretary having not
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 12th June)
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan: Labour failed on inequality In a speech to the GMB union, Sadiq Khan said the rise in inequality under the coalition is a "stain" that is getting worse, especially as senior Tories such as Boris Johnson have argued that greed is a good thing. But he also acknowledged that the rise in inequality did not start under this government. Khan will say the share
Graphs at a glance: Switzerland gets away with it for another year as 'top destination' for offshore funds
It's not whether you get caught, it's whether you get away that matters. The great Maradona got away with his "hand of god" goal that knocked England out of the 1986 football World Cup. The Swiss got away with their own escape thanks to the "hand of a dolt" who signed the 2011 tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland. An agreement that not only granted anonymity to tax dodgers, but also
Change in the way we measure growth to add 5% to UK GDP
SOURCE FINANCIAL TIMES: Accounts shake-up promises boost for growth Britain’s economy is going to change abruptly and profoundly in four months’ time – at least on paper. For the first time in 15 years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will in September tear up the way it measures the economy, to take account of new international standards and to make the UK as comparable as
Rule u-turn means student loan debt WILL count against you getting a mortgage
Chris and his professor chum try to work out all the implications... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Student loan debt IS now considered when applying for a mortgage, throwing graduates' home ownership plans into jeopardy. Despite recent advice suggesting otherwise, graduates will now have their student loan debts included in the affordability calculation for a mortgage. The Financial Conduct
Graphs at a glance: UKIP's 25% vote out of 36% turnout = 9.5% of all UK voters. This got them a third of UK MEPs, which amounts to 3 hundredths of all MEPs. What next?
In 2010 Nigel Farage was unkind to Herman van Rompuy. Herman Who? Herman was President of the European Council (to be clear, not the President of the European Commission nor the President of the European Parliament). Nigel asked the very relevant question "Who are you?". To be fair to Herman, the same could be said of everybody in the
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 5th June)
Student loan debt IS now considered when applying for a mortgage, throwing graduates' home ownership plans into jeopardy. Despite recent advice suggesting otherwise, graduates will now have their student loan debts included in the affordability calculation for a mortgage. The Financial Conduct Authority’s Mortgage Market Review guidelines will force all mortgage lenders to consider student
£140m wasted: Universal Credit redefined as "new project", so severe are the IT failures, delays and redesigns
SOURCE GUARDIAN: Back to the drawing board: Duncan Smith’s Universal Credit redefined as 'new project' after successive delays Universal credit, the government's recasting of the welfare benefits system, has had to be reorganised so fundamentally that the government watchdog responsible for grading its implementation has judged that it is now an entirely new project. In its annual assessment
Graphs at a glance: Data shows how successive governments, both left and right, have enriched a tiny minority at the expense of almost everyone.
The 2014 European election result was shaped by the anger of ordinary people who have been misused to pay the price of the banking crisis. In the UK the Tories threw them out of the basket, the LibDems assisted with a sheepish smile, and Labour promised that if they were in power they would be doing the same thing in any case. The banking sector continues to be caught up in scandal after
OFGEM to investigate British Gas for paying salesmen bonuses for inflating business customers’ bills
Including the Royal British Legion! KJ learns more from his mate, a British Gas salesman... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: British Gas salesmen who double your bills 'were treated like celebrities and given free helicopter rides for ripping off customers'- British Gas paid staff bonuses for inflating business customers’ bills – and churches and charities were targeted because they had fewer resources to
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 29th May)
Back to the drawing board: Duncan Smith’s Universal Credit redefined as 'new project' after successive delays Universal credit, the government's recasting of the welfare benefits system, has had to be reorganised so fundamentally that the government watchdog responsible for grading its implementation has judged that it is now an entirely new project. In its annual assessment of the
Graphs at a glance: Financial Reporting Council (FRC) says just 2% of bank and building society audits were up to scratch.
In April 2011 the US Senate held a hearing on "The Role of the Accounting Profession in Preventing Another Financial Crisis". Kicking off the hearing the chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Jack Reed, commented: "Prior to the collapse or rescue of nine major financial institutions in 2007 and 2008, they each received unqualified
Is a vote for UKIP a vote for its policies? Or is it a protest vote?
SOURCE BBC NEWS: UK European election results SOURCE BBC NEWS: England council election results OUR RELATED STORIES: Graphs at a glance: The effect of political fibbing exposed by Office of National Statistics report showing fewer than one in three of us 'tend to trust' government Graphs At A Glance: NI and Income taxes make hiring costs too expensive for employers? Ours are the lowest
Will the Tories and Labour learn the secret of UKIP's success? It's all about Trust.
Trust isn’t about knowing someone will do the right thing. It is about knowing what someone will do. UKIP seems trustworthy because what the party says is such a mix of keen insight as well as crass stupidity that they can’t be making it up. If UKIP were crafty and untrustworthy they wouldn’t be quite so crass. Whether we agree with them
A guide on how to overcome the servant problem. A salutory read when you are selecting or electing domestic or public servants.
In the aftermath of local and European Parliament elections, we offer you this useful guide, published in 1899, to dealing with servants. Pay particular attention to the sections warning what happens when you select someone without well checked references! Truly awful! For those of you with no eyes to see, the book has an audio function - i.e. it will read itself to you (go to the full screen
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 22nd May)
The rich get richer: Britain's wealthiest DOUBLE their fortunes since the financial crash and are now worth £519billion The fortunes of the 1,000 richest men and women in the UK rose by 15.4% in the last year. It also means that total wealth has doubled since 2009, when the top 1,000 were worth a measly £258billion. The figures were revealed in the Sunday Times Rich List. The list is based on
Gary Barlow OBE caught using a scheme, designed to promote the arts, to dodge tax
SOURCE BBC NEWS: Take That star Gary Barlow should keep OBE - Cameron David Cameron has rejected calls for Take That singer Gary Barlow to hand back his OBE after it emerged he had put money into a scheme ruled to be set up for tax avoidance purposes. Mr Cameron said he was against "aggressive tax avoidance schemes". He said: "If people go after these schemes and aggressively avoid tax they're
Regulation in Britain: Compare and contrast regulation of Citizens and of Companies. Company executives pay piffling fines, ordinary citizens do jail time.
In May 2014 the energy regulator OFGEM boasted about its latest ‘record fine’: £12 million inflicted on E.on. OFGEM’s press release stated: E.ON’s large scale mis-selling results in biggest supplier payout to consumers Ofgem found management arrangements were insufficient to protect against mis-selling OFGEM has the power to fine upto 10% of revenue. E.ON’s UK revenue in 2013 was £
"Self-employment" accounts for 80% of the increase in employment since the crash, warns business secretary Vince Cable
Chris and Fee cautiously celebrate the record employment figures... SOURCE GUARDIAN: Vince Cable urges right for zero-hours staff to request fixed hours The business secretary, Vince Cable, expressed concern over the trend for self-employment. He said: "Self-employment accounts for 80% of the remarkable increase in employment since 2007.” He argued that there were now signs that the UK
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 15th May)
London has more billionaires than any other city in the world while Britons’ use of food banks rises 163% The survey of Britain’s superrich compiled annually for the Sunday Times newspaper is likely to prompt debate in a country where many still struggle financially and where food banks are a fact of life despite economic growth recently returning to levels not seen since the 2008 financial
Are Pfizer's promises enough to keep AstraZeneca's UK boffins, and UK boffindom in general, safe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tortoise_and_Scorpion.jpg Pfizer’s pursuit of AstraZeneca brings to mind the old Persian fable of the Scorpion and the Turtle. The Scorpion wanted to cross a lake and asked the Turtle to carry it. The Scorpion promised the Turtle it wouldn’t sting it to death during the voyage because they would both die
Will property owners vote for a government that builds the 250,000 houses a year we need?
SOURCE DAILY MAIL: House prices could quadruple to £900K by 2034 if housing shortage is not tackled The lack of homes in the UK is considered one of the main causes behind the steep increase in house prices, which Nationwide building society reported today rose by 10.9 per cent this month compared to a year ago. That takes the average property value across the UK to £183,577. In the 1950s the
Graphs At A Glance: The cost of putting £1 into an employee's pocket in the UK is the fourth lowest of the 28 EU nations. Only Malta, Ireland and Cyprus are lower.
http://topincomes.g-mond.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/#Database: Why have the wages of the 90% stagnated in Britain in recent decades? Is it because employment taxes make it too expensive for employers to pay us better? An interesting graph from the "New Direction" foundation (founded by former prime-minister Baroness Thatcher) sheds some light. The graph from a 2014 report shows the cost to
Politicians, business leaders and scientists warn against US pharma giant Pfizer's takeover of AstraZeneca
Fee, KJ and Chris wonder whether we're open for business, or just funny business.. SOURCE GUARDIAN: Lord Sainsbury is the latest to call for government to stop Pfizer buying AstraZeneca Former science minister Lord Sainsbury has launched a blistering attack on Pfizer's £63bn takeover move on AstraZeneca, calling on the government to block its attempt to "dismember" a strategically important
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 8th May)
Self-employment surge across UK hides real story behind upbeat job figures Coalition claims that "more people are in work than ever before" have been undermined by a report that shows the number of traditional employee jobs is falling or flatlining across the country – a phenomenon masked by an explosion in recorded self-employment which one economist describes as "the last refuge of the
Voter turnout is so bad that Labour won in 2005 with only 22% of the total electorate. The Tories got just 24% in 2010
OUR RELATED STORIES: The effect of political fibbing exposed by Office of National Statistics report showing fewer than one in three of us 'tend to trust' the government Democracy puts strength in the hands of the many. So why are the 90% treated like cattle for milking and for eating?
60 Second Vote: Does the government cull of "Independent Expert Panels" need to be halted?
Does the Government have a policy of killing off bodies that hold government accountable? What do you think? Does the government have a policy of closing down bodies that monitor it?It's not just the badgers. All independent monitoring panels are endangered species, when it is government that is being monitored. October 2012: The "Badger Culling Pilots" panel was created by DEFRA "to help
Buy-to-let landlords got an annual return of 16.3% since 1996, dwarfing other investments
Chris talks to a free-market fundamentalist... SOURCE GUARDIAN: Buy-to-let landlords got an annual return of 16.3% since 1996, dwarfing other investmentsBuy-to-let investors have made £12,000 profit on every £1,000 they put into property since mortgages for landlords were first launched in 1996. This annual return of 16.3%, buoyed by fast-rising house prices and rents, far outstripped
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 1st May)
Buy-to-let landlords got an annual return of 16.3% since 1996, dwarfing other investments Buy-to-let investors have made £12,000 profit on every £1,000 they put into property since mortgages for landlords were first launched in 1996. This annual return of 16.3%, buoyed by fast-rising house prices and rents, far outstripped every other type of investment. Over the same period shares would have
Barclays and RBS justify more pay hikes "to keep our top talent"
SOURCE GUARDIAN: Barclays AGM - shareholders large and small protest over pay and bonuses One in three shareholders failed to support the bank's remuneration report, which showed that bonuses rose 10% despite a 32% fall in profits. The Barclays chairman, Sir David Walker, had promised a year ago to restrain top pay. One private investor, who expressed his irritation at the bank's
10 Second Poll: The recession saw job losses in all age groups. The recovery is seeing these losses reversed, except for the 60-64 age range:
Figures from the DWP (Department of Works and Pensions) show that the number of people on Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) is falling for all people upto the age of 60. However, people between 60 and 64 years of age are still not getting the jobs they need - they are still nearly 3 times more likely to be on unemployment benefit than they were in the year 2000. Why do you think this is? (You can
Why do both the Conservatives and Labour push so hard for cuts to taxes and public spending when the British Social Attitudes Survey shows only 1 in 10 Brits want this?
A graph from the 2013 British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey shows fewer than 1 in 10 Britons have wanted this in the 30 years since 1983. More than 90% have consistently wanted the level of tax & spend to remain the same or to increase. Why does the Conservative Party campaign on lowering taxes and cutting public spending when fewer than 1 in 10 Britons want this?
Graphs at a glance: ONS, Eurostat and World Bank figures show paying excessive salaries does not bring prosperity to Britons nor to Britain
"the love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Timothy 6:10 This biblical quote means people aren't bad for nothing: to be really bad they need to be really well paid. Of course not all well paid people are evil, but that's the jist of it. However, if someone tells you paying huge salaries is the only way to hold on to the best people who
TNT posties dumping your letters in bushes: Rivals to Royal Mail accused of ditching deliveries to earn more
Fee, Chris and KJ look into the future... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: TNT posties dumping your letters in bushes. Rivals to Royal Mail accused of ditching deliveries to earn more Letters have been found dumped in undergrowth in Manchester and London. The company’s orange-clad staff are paid according to how quick they are – giving them an incentive to ditch mail. Unlike Royal Mail, which must
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 24th April)
Vince Cable warns businesses on 'ridiculous' pay awards As firms prepare for their annual general meetings, Business Secretary Vince Cable has written to all FTSE 100 members to remind them that pressure on pay awards must be kept up to assuage public anger. He said pay levels at banks in particular had been "ridiculous". He singled out Barclays, which has its shareholder meeting scheduled
“We are a Christian country.” What a storm Cameron has kicked up...
SOURCE INDEPENDENT: David Cameron 'fostering alienation and division' by calling Britain a 'Christian country'In an open letter the authors note that while they respect the Prime Minister’s right to religious beliefs as well as the fact that these will “necessarily affect his own life as a politician”, they believe that his characterization will have “negative consequences for politics and
Graphs at a glance: April 2014 saw average wages grow faster than average prices. Is the 'cost of living crisis' over?
In April 2014, just before Easter, newspapers including the Express and the Telegraph reported: “March’s UK inflation figures suggest that the six-year squeeze on real earnings is finally over” For the first time in 4 years prices were not rising faster than wages. Were they right about the squeeze being over? Actually, in the 5 years upto March 2014 price rises have outstripped wages in 57
Wage growth returns. But is the “cost of living” crisis really over?
KJ and Chris get the answer from someone who obviously knows... SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Pay rises scrape ahead of inflation - but only if you work in the private sector AND get an annual bonus Wages including bonuses were on average 1.9% higher in February compared to the same month in 2013, said the Office for National Statistics, while the consumer price inflation rate for that period was 1.7%.
Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 17th April)
Pay rises scrape ahead of inflation - but only if you work in the private sector AND get an annual bonus Wages including bonuses were on average 1.9% higher in February compared to the same month in 2013, said the Office for National Statistics, while the consumer price inflation rate for that period was 1.7%. But pay including bonuses was only 1.7% higher when you look at the three months to
Guest Post from Barnet UNISON, telling a story of outsourcing in pictures and music.
The cartoons included in this guest post from Barnet UNISON were drawn by cartoonist Tim Sanders with lyrics from a UNISON supporter The “Tale of Bob in Barnet” provides an insight into the challenges facing Barnet UNISON and our members. For the past six years our Barnet UNISON has been engaged in an ideological struggle with our employer over service delivery models. First it
In the 30 years since 1983, the British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey shows fewer than 1 in 10 Britons want taxes cut
SOURCE British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey Every British Social Attitudes survey since the first one in 1983 has asked respondents to say which one of three options they would want government to pick if it had to choose between them: Reduce taxes and spend less on health, education and social benefits; Keep taxes and spending on these services at the same level as now; Increase taxes and
Graphs at a glance - British Social Attitudes Survey shows Tories and Labour have lost swathes of their core supporters. Politicians should be very afraid of us. Don't let them forget it! Make sure you Vote!
In politics how high you reach depends less on how tall you stand and more on who you stand on. For decades political parties have gained power standing on people who don't vote. In the twilight weeks of the electoral cycle, like little children at bedtime, politicians see terrors lurking on every sofa across the land. Millions of zombie voters who might be roused if they get annoyed enough.
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