Explainer-in-brief: About all those green jobs June 29, 2022 One of the key tenets of Boris Johnson’s “green revolution” strategy has always been the creation of jobs. In 2020, the prime minister claimed his green plan would bring 250,000 new jobs, mainly to the North and the Midlands. In the last two years, he’s made this promise many times, often to convince the most [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Behind the low-pay complaints from barristers June 28, 2022 Once considered to be the hallmark of a lucrative career, now even the lawyers are striking. Well, only some of them. Yesterday marked the first day of four-week long strikes undertaken by criminal barristers over legal aid fees. They’re calling for a 25 per cent pay rise, and have been offered 15 per cent. Some [...]
Explainer-in-brief: The domino effect driving unions to strike over pay June 27, 2022 As this week begins, we come back to the railways with a sigh of relief. Yet the rail strikes of last week are unlikely to be a one-off, as RMT leader Mick Lynch has already warned more could come if the talks between the unions and the rail bosses keep on failing. Someplace else in [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Why paper bank notes are finally on the out June 24, 2022 Hear, hear: we all have 99 days left to use our £20 and £50 paper banknotes before they’re out of the market. Why is the Bank of England taking these notes away? The OId Lady says paper notes are easier to counterfeit than plastic ones, so it’s time to get rid of them. Plastic ones [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Behind the pensions triple-lock promise June 23, 2022 The pensions triple-lock was introduced in 2010, to ensure payments rise each year keeping up with the cost of living. It works in a simple way: state pensions rise in line with whichever is the highest between average earnings growth, inflation or a flat 2.5 per cent rise. Last year the government suspended it, mainly [...]
A summer of discontent is the unions’ fight for power in the modern workforce June 23, 2022 This week, London was awash with bikes and e-scooters as the biggest rail strikes in thirty years kicked off on Tuesday. Other unions were watching closely as they plan for their own industrial action. Some are calling it the summer of discontent, as a waterfall of job losses and long hours stir up a storm [...]
Explainer-in-brief: What Macron’s losses in parliament mean for France June 21, 2022 French President Emmanuel Macron finds himself in an unenviable position this week, as he starts picking up the pieces after an extraordinary defeat in the parliamentary elections. With a slim majority of 245 seats, it won’t be easy for the government to introduce any groundbreaking policy. Right-wing leader Marine Le Pen, who was defeated at [...]
Explainer-in-brief: what difference would agency workers make in the rail strikes? June 20, 2022 The biggest rail strikes in thirty years kick off this week. The government has been unable to conduct successful negotiations with the rail union RMT and is now scrambling to look like it’s doing something. Last week, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested agency workers might be brought in to replace rail staff during the strikes. [...]
Explainer-in-brief: A curious saga of An ethics adviser, partygate and… steel June 17, 2022 On Wednesday evening, Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser quit his post. Lord Geidt sent a forthright letter to the PM in which he complained he had been put in “an impossible and odious position”. The partygate saga clearly had its toll on Lord Geidt, who was grilled over the independence of his position. Yet the ethics [...]
Inside Britain’s food wars: exaggerated veggie claims risk a diet culture war June 17, 2022 Remember being told an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Not so simple, it turns out, as the government discovered with its new Food Strategy, with its plans to halve childhood obesity and make farming in the UK more resilient. The strategy follows an independent review by Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of restaurant chain [...]
