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Category: Cuts

Have the policy U-turns made strikes more likely?

Have the policy U-turns made strikes more likely?

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Do the unions scent blood? One of the downsides about getting a reputation for policy U-turns is that your opponents might think that with a bit more pressure then they’ll get what they want. If you’ve changed your mind over NHS reforms and relatively minor matters such as forestry policy and school milk then you can see union leaders thinking it will only be a matter of time before pressure on, say, public sector pensions will show a return. That’s…

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Will the coalition’s resolve hold against the teachers?

Will the coalition’s resolve hold against the teachers?

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Are pensions the issue that’ll spark off public sector strikes? Yesterday’s results of strike ballots by the teaching unions, the NUT and ATL, looks set to be followed by other public sector unions opposed to plans to scale back pension benefits The 92% strike vote by NUT members and the 82% one by the ATL, traditionally the most moderate of the teaching unions, highlights the scale of the challenge. Those are big majorities and ministers could be faced with a…

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Just one in four blame the coalition for the cuts

Just one in four blame the coalition for the cuts

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How long can Osborne go on blaming the “other lot” The June “blame game index” from YouGov is out and has the proportion of those sampled blaming the coalition down two points on May to 24% – the lowest figure in 2011 since the first week in January. The last Labour government, meanwhile, is blamed by 40% which is down a point but is still up 2% on what it was in March. I think that this is a key…

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Can Dave win his party round on international aid?

Can Dave win his party round on international aid?

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Is this a policy where there’ll be no U-turn? Almost whenever the public is polled on which areas of government expenditure should be cut Britain’s international aid programme comes near the top. Yet this, together with the NHS, are two parts of the government’s spending that were specifically ring-fenced at the general election and have continued to maintain their privileged status. This is in spite of sustained attacks from the tabloids on money being spent overseas at a time of…

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What’s happened to public sector union militancy?

What’s happened to public sector union militancy?

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Will the government have an easy ride? One statistic released this week that received a fair amount of coverage was the median rate of public sector pay settlements in the last quarter: for the first time since the figures were compiled, it had fallen to zero. What is notable is that this restraint hasn’t been accompanied by industrial action. Why not? One possibility is that the unions are biding their time for bigger battles to come, with pension reform being…

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The Coalition loses ground in the council cuts blame game

The Coalition loses ground in the council cuts blame game

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Could this affect the locals on May 5th? Yesterday we looked at the latest finding in the “cuts blame game” and reported that YouGov was still showing a big deficit for Labour with 40% saying the last government was to blame for the spending cuts. There’s another tracker that YouGov has which is focussed on council spending cuts where a different picture is emerging. The question is: “Local councils in many parts of Britain are cutting some of their services….

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Will “Saving the NHS” help save the Lib Dems?

Will “Saving the NHS” help save the Lib Dems?

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Is Clegg about to jump onto the Lansley Lifeboat? The main story in the Indy on Sunday is a report, described as an exclusive, by Matt Chorley and Nina Lakhani that David Cameron will announce this week that the brakes are to be put on Andrew Lansley’s controversial NHS reforms. The report states: “… Mr Cameron will publicly admit to mistakes in the plan by the Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley, to hand £80bn of health spending to family doctors,…

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Was the total of marchers nearer to 100k than 500k?

Was the total of marchers nearer to 100k than 500k?

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Were 100 passing by every 3 seconds? Last Saturday’s TUC march was a major political event – but how many were actually on it? Over the past seven days we’ve seen the estimates grow and grow and a figure of half a million is gaining currency. But is that anywhere near to the actual total? For it to have been the claimed half million then more than a 100 marchers would have had to have passed by every three seconds…

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