The end is nigh. Inspired by the Greek debt crisis,Community Care is having a haircut and a hirsute Outside Left is sitting grim-facedin Sweeney Todd’s chair, awaiting the inevitable opening of the trap door. So this is just a few sentences of gratitude to youreaders for your time, patience, indefatigability (copyright George Galloway)and comments, supportive [...]
Education secretary Michael Gove (pictured looking his best) was absolutely correctyesterday to highlight the inconvenience caused to families by public sectorworkers who will strike in their millions tomorrow. It is encouraging that a Conservative minister has suchforesight to realise that families may indeed be inconvenienced. For, if action is not taken now, in decades to [...]
As a Conservative, it is natural that Cabinet secretary Francis Maude (pictured getting the beers in) would speakout against the public sector workers’ pensions strike on 30 November. Last week he suggested that, instead of taking to thestreets, employees engaged in a nice a cup of tea and a sit-down for 15 minutes. Todayhe has [...]
Many public sector employees, including social workers,can only dream of the prospect of a 2.3% pay rise. That is the going rate,according to figures from IDSPay.co.uk, published on Left Foot Forward in ablog by Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke. With inflation hovering around 5%, October’s figure is acomparatively paltry sum – yet one that [...]
Someone ought to have told the TUC that the inviolable CliffRichard (pictured discovering atheism) had a god-given right to an annual crack at the Christmas number one. Short of The Pogues coming up with something half-decent, Ihope the nation’s affections will turn to a single by a newly formed band, TheWorkers. Under the auspices of [...]
The London Borough of Wandsworth is home to the subway(pictured) in A Clockwork Orange where a homeless man was beaten up by thedroogs. Forty years later, the council appears to be threatening to deliver a good kicking – metaphorically – to its housing tenants. First, it warned that entire families could be evicted from itsproperties [...]
Industrial action and the Conservatives are not naturalbedfellows, notwithstanding (pictured drinking water) education secretary Michael Gove’s appearance on apicket line in a former life as a journalist. What his current colleagues think of Militant Mike’s picketingpast can only be the subject of conjecture (youthful impetuosity, perhaps?),but at least he stuck it out longer than the [...]
Think tank Demos has devised an index to evaluate how localauthorities in England and Wales are managing the public spending cuts. Called Coping with the Cuts, website visitors can use apull-down menu to see how their local authority’s disability services score on personalisation, eligibility and budget changes. Although there is an explanation as to how [...]
Labour leader Ed Miliband came in for some flak two monthsago when he told trade union members caught up in the local government pensionsdispute that they should desist from striking during negotiations. Whether you agreed with Miliband or disagreed with him, itwas a point of view honestly held (I hope). But it was also a [...]
What’s worse: being dragged through the courts wronglyaccused of murder or being dragged through the courts wrongly accused of childabuse? Stupid question? Hobson’s choice? Try suggesting that to former Premier League manager DaveJones, who was falsely accused of abusing two teenagers as acare worker in a children’s home after retiring as a footballer. The former [...]
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