Adam Lent

The TUC Touchstone pamphlet, Life in the Middle, received wide media coverage on its launch last week. There were half page analyses in the Financial Times and The Guardian and news reports in The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express and The Daily Mail and a very detailed analysis on the BBC website.  The Daily Express and Daily Mail also dedicated full page columns by their lead political columnists to the pamphlet, The Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire covered it and The Observer also had a column on Life in the Middle describing the pamphlet as “rich and fascinating” . 

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• Connected Research
  A welcome to new blog from telecoms/IT union Connect's new policy blogger, Calvin
• Doubts over right-wing dominance of social media: ePolitix.com
  so there!
  (tags: blogging)

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Owen Tudor

The Financial Times often puts film stills in its second section because company news often needs a bit of jazzing up. Stories about union-employer partnerships are also sometimes a little short on the conflict that traditionally laces industrial relations reporting. So, as a descendant of an 18th century Cornish pirate, my eye was caught by Johnny Depp in his ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ role, and a headline that said “Unions and publishers join to fight piracy”. But it’s not just about a partnership between unions and employers, it’s about trans-Atlantic union co-operation too.

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• The Real Middle Britain – Taxes, House Prices & Debt
  Duncan's Economic Blog on how the real Middle Britain shows potential majority support for a progressive response to the recession.
  (tags: middlebritain tuc)
• Where is Middle Britain?
  Nigel has a guest post about the real Middle Britain over at Liberal Conspiracy
  (tags: liberalconspiracy tuc middlebritain)
• MPs' expenses: the last straw for Middle Britain?
  Brendan has a post up at Comment is Free, where he argues our politicians need to get back in touch with the concerns of the real Middle Britain.
  (tags: brendanbarber middlebritain TUC)

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Adam Lent

Many MPs seem bemused by the wave of public anger that has consumed them in recent days.  Here’s a simple statistic that might enlighten them.  Median income in the UK is around £20,000 pa;  MPs earn around £65,000 pa.  And as the new Touchstone pamphlet shows, many middle earners have seen their relative income growth stall and their job status decline in the last two to three decades. 

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Pamphlet #6: Life in the Middle

Thirty years ago, millions of middle earners delivered an historic election victory to Margaret Thatcher by ditching their Labour allegiance. Eighteen years later, that same group of voters switched back and helped Tony Blair to a huge parliamentary majority.

It will be middle earners who once again determine the outcome of the next general election. But how has “Middle Income Britain” been treated in return for their allegiance since 1979? Based on original research, Life in the Middle reveals a complex story of political promises only half met and a social group increasingly ignored in public debate, despite their continued political importance.

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Much of the new Touchstone pamphlet Life in the Middle – the Untold Story of Britain’s Average Earners is based on a specially commissioned YouGov poll. Real poll junkies can find more results in a pdf here

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• Why are we silent as Cameron preaches voodoo economics?
  Johann Hari worries that the Tory leader’s devotion to discredited theories shows up a blinkered view of the economy as it affects ordinary people.
  (tags: tax politics DavidCameron)

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Tim Page

Owen describes Brendan Barber’s call, at an ETUC event in Paris, for “decent jobs for all workers”. A very similar message emerged from trade union economists, from OECD countries, who met on Monday and Tuesday. This meeting, also in Paris, was held to consider a trade union position on the economic crisis, in advance of the G8 summit in L’Aquila.

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