Workfare to be challenged in the courts.
Workfare is a programme whereby anyone who has been claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for 6 months can be sent to work for major multinational companies like Tesco, Poundland and Sainsbury’s for up to 5 weeks in order to keep their benefits. Now a legal challenge under human rights legislation is being brought against the scheme.Tessa [...]
From monotony to farce: my Fortnum and Mason’s trial
“Which judge have you got?”. That this is the first question asked by anyone familiar with the justice system perhaps says all you need to know about its operation. Throughout our case, I had ringing in my ears the wisdom of a QC I met in 2009 when we took the Treasury to court over [...]
You, too, will come to love this Gideon
With The Real George Osborne, World Development Movement have acheived the impossible: campaigning comedy that is actually funny.
Think you live in a free country? Think again…
by Richard Openshaw Last week saw US campus police use pepper spray in an attempt to end a patently peaceful student Occupy protest at a University of California campus and New York Police violently evict the Occupy Wall Street camp in Manhattan. We have also learnt that the Metropolitan Police have been given extra powers [...]
Elected Student Officer Suspended by Birmingham University and Banned from Campus Responds
This is a letter from Birmingham University Guild of Students’ Vice President Education Edd Bauer to Carolyn Pike the “Director of Legal Services” at Birmingham University. Edd has been suspended from his position by the University and the Guild of Students for being arrested during a protest against Nick Clegg’s betrayal of students. The University [...]
Tory Women: why “female” and “feminist” aren’t interchangeable
The current government’s spending cuts disproportionately affect women. That’s not my opinion; it’s fact. Women make up 65% of the public sector workforce, so are more likely to be affected by the redundancies and pay freezes which are being imposed. Most single parents and housing benefit claimants are women, so more women than men will [...]
Remembering the Victims of Road Traffic
The horrific crash on the M5 earlier this month was a stark reminder of the dangers of road travel- but it was by no means an isolated incident. The fact is that people die on Britain’s roads every single day of the year – six people – one less than died in the pile up [...]
Beating the right and the coming European event horizon
“Event Horizon: (n) A spatial boundary around a black hole inside which gravity is strong enough to prevent all matter and radiation from escaping.” As the European economy teeters on the brink of collapse, now is surely the time to ask how to make sure we don’t get our arse handed to us like we [...]
Justice for whom? Fortnum and Mason vs the 99%
This piece first appeared on the Red Pepper blog Before the credit crunch, the last run on a UK bank was in 1878. The directors of the Bank of Glasgow were jailed. Likewise many of those responsible for the 1929 Wall Street Crash were sent down. Not so today. After the banking collapse of 2007/8, [...]
Edinburgh Community Wind Turbine in Public Funding Vote
One of the crucial ways in which we can reclaim our economy is through ownership of renewable generation facilities, like solar and wind projects. In Portobello and Leith local groups have been developing the first community owned wind turbine scheme in Scotland (and maybe the UK -let us know if you are aware of others). [...]
« go back — keep looking »