Londoners pay £3,000 more in tax than they receive back: However you slice it, everybody’s getting a raw deal from Britain’s tax code August 14, 2015 “Those with the broadest shoulders must bear the biggest burden”… “We’re doing our utmost to lift the poorest out of tax altogether.” The phrases slip off politicians’ tongues with the regularity of clockwork, as much a part of our political environment as Prime Minister’s Questions. Yet it’s clear from even the most cursory look [...]
Universities must work more closely with employers if today’s school leavers are going to flourish August 14, 2015 As another generation of young people receive their A level results, record numbers are expected to head to university next month. This is undoubtedly good news as it’s estimated that people with degrees earn around £200,000 more over their lifetime than those who did not attend university. However, it’s important that people embarking upon [...]
August 2015 TfL Tube strike: London must have a Night Tube if it’s to keep its status as a global capital August 13, 2015 Once again, millions of Londoners are suffering travel chaos after the unions convinced London Underground staff to strike. The strike has been called in response to plans for weekend all-night running on some Tube lines. Those plans involve staff getting a two per cent pay rise and bonuses on top worth hundreds of pounds. [...]
Work-life balance: There is no wealth but life – and work needs to fit in around that August 13, 2015 Work-life balance has become a common buzzphrase, especially with the ongoing Tube strikes, supposedly sparked by the changes the Night Tube will cause to Tube workers' home and social lives. Like all clichés, it has its roots in something really crucial – but it is my belief that the concept is becoming redundant. Simply [...]
Marks & Spencer’s share price tumbles as womenswear boss Frances Russell leaves August 13, 2015 Marks & Spencer's share price has fallen by almost two per cent this morning on the news of yet another shake-up at the troubled high street chain that will see its womenswear boss Frances Russell step down. Russell, who has led the womenswear business for three years, will be replaced by M&S’s lingerie boss [...]
After Crossrail’s gruesome discovery we’ve mapped all the City of London’s plague pits: Do you work near one? August 12, 2015 Crossrail is unearthing all sorts of secrets from London's past. Today, people behind the major infrastructure project revealed that excavators had found 30 skeletons near Liverpool Street – victims of a “catastrophic event”, thought to be the Great Plague of 1665. “This mass burial, so different to the other individual burials found in the [...]
August 2015 TfL Tube strike: Night Tube to miss 12 September launch date August 12, 2015 The Night Tube is being delayed until after its 12 September launch date as unions continue to threaten strike action. Sources have told City A.M that London Underground is poised to announce the 24-hour service will miss its start-point next month. A TfL spokesman said there was "no change to our position", which [...]
TfL Tube strike August 2015: RMT confirms two new 24 hour strike dates August 12, 2015 RMT has confirmed a further two 24-hour strikes over the Night Tube to take place in August. Train operators and instructor operators will walk out from 9pm on Tuesday 25 August until the same time 26 August. It will be repeated again from 9pm on 27 August until 28 August. All other staff will [...]
August 2015 TfL Tube strike: Tube union demands would “cost TfL £1.4bn” – and it’s commuters who’ll pay August 12, 2015 The demands being made by the four unions in the Night Tube dispute would cost £1.4bn over the next eight years, forcing Tube fares up, TfL has claimed. RMT, TSSA, Aslef and Unite have been leading industrial action for the last few weeks over the introduction of the 24-hour service, seeking a number of [...]
London weather: Parts of Britain could see a month’s worth of rainfall in two days August 12, 2015 Parts of Britain could be battered with more than a month's worth of rainfall on Thursday and Friday. The weather forecasting service has issued a yellow weather alert for London and the South East, South West, East, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber and the North West of England starting early on Thursday morning and [...]