Why Performance Related Pay won’t work
There is no evidence that performance related pay (PRP) will improve teaching or educational standards. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a paper in 2025 which said…
Second Lockdown Blues
The start of a new period of lockdown across much of the UK requires a moment of serious reflection. Much of this will focus on the medical necessity for this…
Conservative Party Conference: The view from the library next door
I’m writing this blog from the brand new Library of Birmingham, a £180 million project which is central to the regeneration of Birmingham. Happily, the library is right next door…
How our social security system holds back low-paid workers
Britain’s poorest working parents lose more of their earnings through taxes and social security withdrawal than the richest 1 per cent, and should be allowed to keep more of the…
A £12bn cut in welfare will put huge pressure on the NHS
I have worked enough hours on the front line of the NHS to see where the next crisis will come from. The people who suffer stoically through humiliating cuts to…
How the economic crisis is being used to attack employment rights across Europe
A new Working Paper by Isabelle Schömann (ETUI) and Stefan Clauwaert (ETUI) “The Crisis and National Labour Law Reforms: A Mapping Exercise” sets out how the economic crisis is being…
What to make of the latest claims on living standards?
The Government are today claiming that ‘take home pay’ has risen for 90% of workers. If true this would be excellent news but I’m afraid there a quite a few…
CLASS Panel Reacts To Summer Statement
Our expert panel reflect on what Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement means for workers, the environment, inequality and tax. Think again Chancellor Steve Turner – Assistant General Secretary, Unite the Union…
Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse centralises power and devolves blame
Central Control but local delivery The Sheffield City Deal – part of George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse project – was announced last week to coincide with the Conservative Party conference. The…
Labour Market Realities: Public Sector Workers
Figures out today show that unemployment has dropped to 4.7%, the lowest rate since 1975. But in our new series we scratch below these headline and often misleading statistics. This…
Cameron’s new crusade against criminal wage-workers
There’s a new type of criminal out and about in Britain today, and Cameron gave us fair warning that his government is out to scotch their nefarious activities in his…