Owen Tudor

A few days ago, the European Union decided to retain sanctions against key supporters of President Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe which prevent them travelling to Europe. The TUC has welcomed the decision, and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has backed the decision too. ZANU-PF, not surprisingly, didn’t: they claim that the EU sanctions are an attack on Zimbabwe as a whole. But writing in response to a vitriolic attack on them in the Government-backing Sunday Mail, ZCTU General Secretary Wellington Chibebe said:

“The ZCTU is accused of agreeing to the imposition of the so-called sanctions or pretended to be neutral. Our position is very clear on the so-called sanctions – they are measures targeted at specific people numbering about 200 and specific companies or organisations. Obviously 200 people and a few companies are not ‘the whole of Zimbabwe’. This is our reading and you cannot convince us or the people of Zimbabwe otherwise with your cheap politicking. Zimbabwe is made up of close to 14 million people, the majority of whom are allowed to travel abroad subject to immigration laws of host countries. We also understand that the measures were as a result of the perceived or real rampant violation of human rights and acts of corruption by the targeted club of the elite.”

Continue Reading →

Owen Tudor

There are many causes behind migration. One of the commonest cited is skill shortages. But as liberal economists argue, that’s often a misnomer. All that is in fact happening is a wage shortage: raise the wages and sufficient skilled workers will appear. Today, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG have issued a report today which suggests the liberal economists are right. They say that employers facing skill shortages would employ more British workers if they could pay them less (rather suggesting the skills are available, but at a price employers don’t want to pay).

Exploiting migrant workers to undercut the existing workforce simply sets worker against worker. And whilst employers may benefit in the short run from lower wage costs, the BNP are more likely to be the long term beneficiaries.

Instead, unions have been arguing that paying migrants the same as the existing workforce (and giving them all the other rights we have won over the years) is the best way to combat exploitation, undercutting and racial strife. The national minimum wage has had some effect in making undercutting less possible, but the CIPD take potshots at that, too.

Continue Reading →

Nigel Stanley

Opponents of the Robin Hood tax would no doubt like to portray us as lefties who do not understand finance.

But here is the Conservative candidate for Swansea West, René Kinzett, on Conservative Home

Without new ways to raise money like the FTT, sooner or later, the people, like my constituents in Swansea, who have already paid once for the crisis through lost jobs and public service cuts will be asked to pay again through rises in income tax or VAT.  This really isn’t fair. A financial transaction tax is the only idea on the table that would make sure that banks pay back some of the costs of the financial crisis.

And here is the asset management column in Financial News (though the RHT’s campaign is more about raising money) (hat tip Tom P):

The Government has its hands on a lever that would make short-term speculation markedly less attractive than long-term investment.

Continue Reading →

John Wood

In the FT today, over 60 senior economists have written to demand that Alistair Darling and George Osborne refrain from making premature cuts to public spending. We agree with them that the deficit should be financed until the economy is more stable and that if spending cuts are made at this point, the UK could spiral into a disastrous ‘double-dip’ recession.

We’re backing a campaign, Don’t Risk the Recovery, along with 38 Degrees, the Fabian Society, Left Foot Forward and IPPR. You can help by taking action now at the 38 Degrees site. They have an urgent petition to Darling and Osborne,  asking them not to play short-term electoral politics and gamble the recovery we need so badly.

Please take a minute to sign the petition now, and tell your friends about it.

Continue Reading →

Alice Hood

The news this morning that the Conservatives have rejected Lord Adonis’ offer of an early look at the High Speed Rail White Paper should worry supporters of high speed rail.

Continue Reading →

Adam Lent

It seems George Osborne was a bit hasty to claim that: “we now have a consensus of economic opinion aligned with the Conservatives saying that dealing with the deficit is essential to create jobs and sustain the recovery”.  His comment followed the widely publicised publication of a letter from twenty economists in The Sunday Times.  The Financial Times has two letters today signed by over sixty economists attacking the Sunday Times letter.  The letters urge politicians to put the restoration of growth before the cutting of the deficit.  Whatever one’s view on the deficit, it is clearly wrong in the light of this to claim that there is anything like a consensus amongst economists backing the idea of early action on the deficit.

Continue Reading →

Philip Pearson

The launch of the new Neptune Blade facility in Newcastle today is a fantastic development for the whole of the region. 

The TUC rightly welcomed today’s announcement from US company Clipper Windpower to build a factory making the world’s largest turbine blade in Newcastle. What’s involved is a 10 megawatt (MW) Britannia wind turbine. Each turbine will be able to satisfy the annual electricity consumption of over 6500 households. The factory building the blades will be based on Tyneside, creating 500 jobs by 2020. 

It’s the supply chain that also counts here: as the BWEA points out, Clipper’s factory joins a growing number of UK businesses capitalising on the onshore and offshore wind supply chain.  A year ago, Clipper Windpower established an R&D facility at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in Blyth, 15 miles from Newcastle. 60,000 to 70,000 new jobs could be generated in wind alone by 2020. The potential 40+ gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind alone could supply over a third of our country’s electricity. 

Commenting today, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “Clipper’s decision, backed by £8million Government investment from its low carbon technology fund, is a huge stride forward for the UK’s renewable industry.”

 But there’s a steel sting in the tail. Each turbine needs maybe a thousand tonnes of steel. This week, Corus announced the mothballing of Teesside Cast Products. Naturally, it drew an angry reaction from Community union, alleging the company had washed their hands of a loyal and skilled workforce, with the loss of 1,600 jobs. These core, energy intensive industries matter every bit as much as the new green technologies in our low carbon future.

Continue Reading →

Nigel Stanley

On Tuesday I responded to a Times piece that effectively said that the only cost to the UK of the bank crash was the money spent rescuing RBS, Lloyds and Northern Rock.

Yesterday the same argument appeared in the Guardian in an anonymous article by a “banker”, headlined “not all bankers are fat cats”. Nowhere in the article does this “banker” say exactly what he does in banking.

Continue Reading →

Richard Exell

Unemployment has been quite stable since last summer, with another small fall in today’s figures. As Nicola has reported, the results so far have been nowhere near as bad as most people expected at the start of the recession. It isn’t surprising that many people ask whether the unemployment figures tell the whole story – how much ‘hidden unemployment’ is there?

What would ‘hidden unemployment’ mean? In the labour market statistics, everyone of working age is given one of three labels: employed, unemployed or ‘economically inactive’. Obviously, unemployed people aren’t hidden, but some people counted as employed or economically inactive can be.

Continue Reading →

Owen Tudor

You might be forgiven for assuming that Gordon Brown had isolated himself last November when he argued for a financial transactions tax at the G20 Finance Ministers meeting. That is, after all, what many journalists reported and have trotted out since. In fact, he was joining the leaders of France and Germany. And now, Bloomberg and the Financial Times report that the Minister responsible for tax policy has indicated that the Japanese government may also be leaning in that direction.

That would make four out of the seven richest economies on the planet (the G7 whose Finance Ministers still meet separately, years after the G8 was born, now itself to be supplanted by the G20) supporting what the UK calls the Robin Hood Tax. Four out of seven. Er, that’s a majority isn’t it? Of course, the US administration is yet to be convinced, but we are getting closer to the tipping point.

Continue Reading →