Parliamentary expenses: Tony Blair as PM was on around £190,000 (a sum that he regarded as a poverty wage). So he claimed for his TV licence! Gordon Brown also claimed for his TV licence. He claimed £55,000 over three years towards his second home despite having the run of a ‘grace and favour’ apartment in Downing Street. He also claimed £15,000 to fit up his London flat, £2,300 for food, and £4,980 for cleaning. He then had the temerity to claim for his council tax. Prudence indeed!
Members of Prospect union in the Science Museum group have been on strike over wages, with minimum hourly rates falling significantly below the real living wage whilst directors’ salaries have grown substantially. Socialist Appeal pledges solidarity!
Are the terms ‘socialism’ and ‘communism’ interchangeable? Thomas Soud from the Warwick Marxists sets out to answer this question.
Running simultaneously and arguably as crucial as the election for
Unite’s General Secretary itself is the BA dispute and a proposal to
‘settle’ it. 12 months ago British Airways cabin crew on an 80% turn
out, voted by a brilliant 92% to take strike action to defend their hard
won terms and conditions. The dispute started as a result of the
imposition and erosion of ‘Terms and Conditions’ but has been diverted
by British Airways and is now being defined by staff travel and the
disciplinary process. But with scores of cabin crew suspended and a
dozen sacked, the proposed ‘deal’ is already unravelling.