Owen Tudor

A recently received mis-typed email revealed a wider truth. On Wednesday 3 December, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called a day of action to draw attention to the continuing downward spiral of the economy of Zimbabwe – join their protest here. The latest phase is characterised by the flight of big business and the regime’s supporters to using the US dollar which is unaffected by spiralling Zimbabwean inflation, and the refusal of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to allow ordinary Zimbabweans to use US dollars or even withdraw enough Zimbabwean dollars to pay for their daily lives. For some, the Zimbabwean economy is “dollarising”, while for others it is “dolorising” – dolor is Latin for pain, with connotations of great sorrow.

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Nigel Stanley

There has been a sustained campaign by the Taxpayers’ Alliance and rightwing newspapers against public sector pensions. Public servants are featherbedded they say, and the future cost of providing pensions are of telephone number proportions.

They seem to have made a convert in David Cameron. This is what he said in answer to questions at a Manchester Chamber of Commerce meeting last Monday (first revealed by the FT’s estimable Nick Timmins):

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Nicola Smith

Tory proposals now appear to combine a regressive attitude to employment protection with a basic lack of understanding. Citizens Advice have highlighted a fascinating article in the Daily Telegraph, which cites CBI experts on the “the weight of new and vexatious claims” which the tribunal system is straining under. This is a subject near to Alan Duncan’s heart. Unfortunately, the figures don’t stack up and the analysis is flawed. I am also confused by Conservative attemps to support low-paid service sector staff by speaking out against a consultation to make tips fairer. Overall, there is increasing evidence of the incoherence of Tory employment rights policy, which appears to be based on rhetoric rather than any serious analysis.

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Alice Hood

After hours of debates and hundreds of amendments, the Pensions Act 2008 made its way onto the statute book this week. During the discussions Ministers made it clearer than ever that they see responsible investment and engagement as being perfectly in line with pension trustees’ legal duties:

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Nigel Stanley

Some commentators think that the rich will mainly accept the PBR’s higher tax rates, but it hasn’t stopped all the usual arguments coming out of the woodwork.

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Nigel Stanley

The onslaught on the PBR has started.

The Conservatives clearly think that they have found their range on the PBR and have a spring in their collective step after some difficult weeks.

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Nigel Stanley

The Guardian has an interactive guide to where the government gets  and spends its money.

Or perhaps I should get out more.

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Adam Lent

The banks are coming in for intense criticism again.  In the Pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor warned he would take “whatever action is necessary” to ensure banks treat business customers “fairly and decently”. This follows briefings to the press that the Chancellor is considering legislation to force banks to lend.  And last week, the Chair of the Commons Treasury Select Committee  said that full nationalisation may be the only option if the banks do not start lending.

I’ve no doubt that there is a complex equation of factors contributing to the lending crisis which may in the end only be solved by major state intervention. However, there is one possible element in that equation which is currently overlooked: the way Libor (London interbank offered rate – the interest rate at which banks lend to each other) is set.

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Nigel Stanley

Much political journalism these days seems to be written by people who would rather be sports reporters. Who’s in the team, who’s heading for relegation or who had a good game are more frequently written about than the policy or ideological issues that are at stake.

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Philip Pearson

This isn’t a green new deal, but the Chancellor has dealt a few green cards. £535 million in new investment plus money brought forward for environmental projects is likely to be jobs-rich – in homes insulation and central heating packages, train making and flood defences.

This includes:

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