The 1930′s unemployment lines… fast becoming replicated in the late Noughties!

Reflect on this….3 months.

March

April

May

……..Some 281,000 people lost their jobs. That is the personal cost of this recession.  Families under pressure now to pay rent, mortgages, feed families.  The social cost of pressure on families and the stress and humiliation of feeling worthless as work is so far and few between.   This is the biggest quarterly rise in unemployment since records began.  And Gordon Brown has the sheer audacity to call the Conservatives ‘the Party of Unemployment’.  What a hypocrite.

No doubt at PMQ’s Brown will be attacking the Conservatives and throwing about his ‘childsplay’ slogans….but the time has come that he needs to take this seriously.  This economic mismanagement is no slogan or insult to throw at the Tories.  This is affecting people’s lives and the morale and cultural fabric of this country.  Brown is doing nothing….just as he has the blood of the soldiers of Afghanistan on his hands, he has the tears of the unemployed on his shoulder!

Our economy really is in a mess….we deserve truth from Brown.  Public spending will have to be cut, deficit reduced, confidence installed in this faltering economy which really does stand on the edge of a double dip recession.  We are hanging on by our fingernails.  But what is being done.  Labour Party zealots may hate the truth but the Bank of England has temporarily haled Quantative easing, the credit cards have been cut up so no big spending plans.  We can see from a blog article earlier this week on TBB that lending to businesses is not getting through and is in decline….so Gordon, where is the oil to lubricate the engine of this economy?  What are your Government doing?  Pray do tell as we all sit here counting our pennies, fearing for our jobs.  Yes jobs, becoming rarer than red squirrels in our woods!

The unemployment rate now stands at 7.6% which is much higher than forecast.  And these are the Government’s Official Figures which we know have so many twists and turns and caveats that the actual figure is far higher.

Officially we have 2.38 million unemployed….this figure will smash 3 million this year.  Why will the figures smash 3 million?  Britain and this Government have been heavily reliant on the public sector, retail, housing and finance as sources of employment growth, but the money is no longer there to artificially balloon these sectors.

Meanwhile the number of employed people also fell at a record rate, with 269,000 fewer people in work dropping the employment rate down to 72.9%.

Now consider this.  To add to these figures:  Lloyds Baking Group is cutting 2,100 workers; Diaego is cutting 900 jobs;  Corus job cuts could equal 5,000.  More and more will be unemployment….the acceleration continues.

The number of people claiming job seekers allowance stands at 1.56 million, the worst since Labour came to power.   NB That is a 16 month in a row rise and over 700,000 higher than a year ago.

What is scary is that Graduates are just entering the job market, to face the prospect of Unemployment after studying hard for 3/4 years and getting themselves into debt to the average of £15,000 – £18,000.  These Graduates, in their prime, will be thrown to the scrapheap….or take jobs in supermarkets until they can find commensurate work to their abilities.   Youth unemployment has jumped to a 16-year high of 726,000 after a quarterly rise of 95,000, while the number of people out of work for longer than a year rose by 46,000 to 528,000, the highest for 11 years.

One thing is very true, if Gordon Brown was employed in the Private Sector, he would have been handed his P45 a long time ago for crass mismanagement and Gross Misconduct for lying!

In the past 12 years the British military have seen more action than at any other time since the Second World War.   In that time Gordon Brown and New Labour have been savage in cutting back expenditure.

Our brave squaddies live in slum barracks which are often rat infested. They have been provided with shoddy equipment and we have even asked them to buy their own boots.  How does that sit on your conscience?  It sits badly on mine.

We have provided them in Afghanistan with flimsy ‘snatch’ Land Rovers instead of heavily armoured trucks and helicopters which could save them from lethal roadside bombs.  Our troops travel in road convoys, exposed to attack as our US friends travel overhead in helicopters.

And get this statistic.  America has EIGHT times as many helicopters for every serving soldier, compared to Britain.

Soldiers fight and risks their lives to drive Taliban out of villages and towns, only to hand captured territory back because they do not have the numbers or air cover to hold their ground.

If this war is so important Gordon….why have you not committed more troops to the campaign to ensure our boys gains on the battlefield are secure….not to be handed back to the Taliban a few days later because of lack of manpower?

If this war is so important Gordon…why have you not invested in protecting our troops and ensuring they have more helicopters and armoured vehicles?

Sending troops into battle, to die for our country, deserves whatever support we can provide them.

By not preparing our troops Gordon, you have blood on your hands……like Macbeth that will come back to haunt you…..

Claim:  This Government has offered more support to small businesses in the recession.

Reality:  Official statistics show that it has guaranteed fewer loansin the year to march 31st. Businesses received 2,360 loan guarantees worth £177.8m under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee (SFLG) scheme and its successor the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme, launched by Peter Mandolsen.

Please remember…….This was a central plank in the Governments economic strategy for the recession.

But this total, which includes loans approved before April 3rd is significantly less than the £205 guaranteed in the previous year, (taken from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills report).

This is also far below the scheme’s £360m budget set by the Government in March 2008, which was raised to £1.3bn in January.  This lack of lending under the schemes runs contrary to the banks’ pledges to make more use of the SFLG and EFG schemes.

Coupled to this, the latest Bank of England figures show that new lending to companies continued to contract in May, following a fall in April.

So we have the Government telling us lending is increasing but on the ground a different story is being told.

Lies, lies, lies………DC expose this at PMQ’s.

Our economy is in a sick state.  Public debt is our cancerous growth which threatens to make us the sick man of Europe again.

As we review costs, maybe now is the time to review Trident and for OUR Party to place this on the Political Agenda.  But not for cost reasons…for political reasons…..(although saving £76 billion is a nice slice off the national debt, to go with the £45 billion for the ID Card Scheme).

Barack Obama has called for a nuclear proliferation summit for Spring 2010.  The language is softer…the goals clear.

Yes our goal must be to reduce nuclear weapons to the barest minimum but we reduce by ‘collective action’ and not unilaterally.  No unilateral cuts in our submarines or 160 warheads but that does not mean we cant discuss upgrade & cost reduction.

Obama is offering the world real cuts in nuclear stockpiles.  Russia and the USA have already agreed fresh reductions.  Obama says any future deals would involve nuclear powers reducing their stockpiles and offering civilian nuclear know-how to non-nuclear states in return for them promising not to develop nuclear weapons. 

Russia’s biggest concern is the missile defence system that Reagan started, in Europe, aka ‘Star Wars’.  Providing Europe and the USA the umbrella of defence against attack.  Initially attack was deemed to come from the Soviet Union / Russia but now that threat is defined as from rogue nuclear nations, typically Iran.  Now this is a fascinating game of brinkmanship.  Obama says to Russia, help us stop Iran getting nuclear weapons and there is no need for our missile defence system.  Clever.  (But of course Iran is not the only rogue state. Don’t forget North Korea who are desperate to build a bomb….and no doubt would not hesitate to fire against their Southern neighbours……and the Pakistan regime is so brittle that who is to say that the Taliban don’t topple it in x period of time).

Will we ever see a world free from nuclear weapons?  No.  Because you cannot uninvent the technology for these weapons.  The moment a conflict arises then the arms race starts again.  This is not the case if minimal numbers of nuclear weapons are kept.  Minimal is the key word and definition of.

So returning to the issue of Trident upgrade.  In this current environment of a willingness to reduce weapons….what message does it send out for Great Britain to be investing in upgrading its nuclear weapons when stockpiles are being reduced.  It’s like calling for a smoking ban while lighting up a huge havana…..not the best message.

Maybe it is time that the Conservatives predicted this issue and seized the agenda on the grounds of joining the Obama agenda of reducing nuclear stockpiles across the world and upgrading does not send the best message out to our friends and neighbours…and to those states wanting a bomb.  Imagine the UK saying….’Sorry…..we dont want you to have a bomb but we will upgrade our stockpile’…….a hypocrites charter. 

Go to it Liam Fox this is your weekend to seize the political agenda on Afghanistan and also Trident upgrade.

Have you noticed in the overwhelming majority of pictures of Speaker , he is looking at the Government benches?   Maybe his head naturally looks that way…..or it’s just a coincidence….

Anyway, have you noticed that despite Speaker Bercow instructing Government Ministers NOT to leak information to the media pre making a Statement to the House of Commons first, it is still happening.  This time the culprit was Alastair Darling and his Treasury team.  We knew all about Darling’s statement on the regulation of the banking system today via our newspapers, not through the House.

George Osborne even made thepoint in the House that Darling had leaked all this….but what did Speaker Bercow do….nothing!

Also interesting to hear Osborne state that he had received a copy of the statement details only 20 mins before Darling spoke to the House.  Darling stated that he saw a man leave the Treasury with the document…oh well that’s another document lost in the back of a cab then!!!

We all dream about those green shoots of economic recovery.  The news that our economy is starting to pick up. 

The feel remains that we are on the edge of the cliff, desperately overhanging the edge and waiting to freefall.  But what is this Government doing about the economy?   Apart from propping up the banks, printing money and bolstering the public sector, the government seems in limbo.  Gordon and team have been more focused on reform of the political system than helping the UK.

No doubt at PMQ’s we will hear arrogant Gordon attacking the Tories….but Gordon…you are in power.  These are dangerous times.  Livelihoods depend on what the Government does…and that lack of confidence in this Government and their policies is feeding through into the real economy.

But take a look at the true statistics of where we are by the National Statistics Office…..which tell us…..quite simply, unemployment is way on the rise, job vacancies continue to fall, unemployment benefit claimants are rising, GDP is falling, public debt as a % of GDP is rising, productivity is falling, manufacturing is declining, we are buying more imports……hardly green shoots to be proud of yet.

And yet Gordon tells us that the Government’s great work is being undermined by rising oil prices, (which will feed through into inflation figures and send that statistic heading the wrong way and if that happens for a sustainable time period then interest rates will move as that is the Bank of England’s main objective.  anyway, take a look at the stats yourselves…..

		Latest Indicators
		PRICES AND INFLATION Period Release date   Monthly change Annual change   Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (2005=100) May 09 16 June 09 110.7 0.6 2.2   Retail Prices Index (all items) (Jan 1987=100) May 09 16 June 09 212.8 0.6 -1.1 RPI excluding mortgage interest (RPIX) (Jan 1987=100) May 09 16 June 09 212.0 0.6 1.6 Producer Prices Index – Output (2005=100) May 09 5 Jun 09 113.6 0.4 -0.3 Producer Prices Index – Input prices (materials and fuel) (2005=100) May 09 5 Jun 09 129.9 0.4 -9.4   LABOUR MARKET Period Release date   Change on  3 months1 Change on 1 yr ago2 Employment rate (%) Feb-Apr 09 17 Jun 09 73.3 -0.8 -1.5 Unemployment rate (%) Feb-Apr 09 17 Jun 09 7.2 0.7 1.9 AEI Headline rate 3 month average (SA) – including bonuses Feb-Apr 09 17 Jun 09 0.8 -0.9 -3.8 AEI Headline rate 3 month average (SA) – excluding bonuses Feb-Apr 09 17 Jun 09 2.7 -0.8 -1.3 Claimant count (Jobseeker’s Allowance) (Thousands) May 09 17 Jun 09 1,544.8 154.4 726.1 Vacancies (Thousands) Mar-May 09 17 Jun 09 444 -38 -230   NATIONAL ACCOUNTS/ ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Period Release date   Quarterly change Change on 1 yr ago3 UK Gross Domestic Product (chained volume measure £ billion) Q1/09 30 June 09 319.7 -2.4 -4.9 Private Non-Financial Corporations Net Lending (£ billion) Q1/09 30 June 09 15.0     Household Saving Ratio (%) Q1/09 30 June 09 3.0     Public Sector current budget (£ billion) May 09 18 June 09 -17.5     Public Sector net debt as a % of GDP May 09 18 June 09 54.7     Public Sector net borrowing (£ billion) May 09 18 June 09 19.9     Public Sector net cash req’t (£ billion) May 09 18 June 09 18.8       BALANCE OF PAYMENTS AND TRADE Period Release date       UK’s trade balance (£ billion) Apr 09 10 Jun 09 -3.0     Balance of Payments current account - (£ billion) Q1 09 30 June 09 -£8.5     of which: EU     -£3.2         non-EU     -£5.4         Goods export volumes - excluding oil and erratics (2005=100) Apr 09 10 Jun 09 88.0     Goods import volumes - excluding oil and erratics (2005=100) Apr 09 10 Jun 09 90.5       SHORT TERM INDICATORS Period Release date   Change on 3 months1 Change on 1 yr ago2 Retail Sales (2005=100) (chained volume, seasonally adjusted) May 09 18 June 09 111.3 0.3 0.6 Index of Manufacturing (2003=100) May 09 07 July 09 88.3 -1.2 -13.1 Index of Production (2003=100) May 09 07 July 09 87.0 -1.8 -12.3 Productivity – Whole economy (2005=100) Q1 09 01 July 09 100.5 -2.0 -4.2 Productivity – Manufacturing (2005=100) Q1 09 01 July 09 100.8 -2.7 -8.3 Index of Services (2005=100) April 2009 1 July 09 105.4 -1.2 -3.7 1. Three months on previous three months 2. Three months on corresponding period one year ago 3. Quarter on corresponding period one year ago

Each day the Government points at new figures saying we are on the way back up.  each day we hear from respected think tanks and economists that we are not doing enough and things are still bad.  Yesterday we heard that estimates of GDP suggest output fell by 0.4% in the three months ending in June, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.  Output had declined by 1.3% in the three months ending in May and actually grew by 0.6% in June, the NIESR said.  ”However, on the basis of the monthly profile we estimate that the UK economy is now stagnating rather than continuing to contract at a sharp pace. “In the three months to June 2009 the UK economy was around 5½% below its peak in March 2008.”

In the housing market we get some positive news.  House prices dropped by only 1.9% during the three months to the end of June. That is the smallest quarterly fall since the beginning of 2008, and well down on declines of between 5% and 6% during the three final quarters of 2008. Annually, house prices have now dropped 15%.

Thanks to all those who emailed me about an article in today’s Wall Street Journal.  This is significant because many American investors read and trust the WSJ’s judgement and based on their latest words, what American would invest in the UK?  Take a look here: http://tinyurl.com/qogwvt

Most interesting paragraphs:  ‘ Six months after the U.K. government scrambled to launch new bailout measures for Britain’s foundering banks and economy, several of those efforts are languishing with few takers.  In January, for example, the British government created a guarantee program meant to revive the dormant market for asset-backed securities. The program aims to spur purchases of banks’ asset-back securities, or bundled consumer loans, by guaranteeing them for buyers. The guarantees were made available in April, but since then, none of the major U.K. banks has issued a security with such a guarantee. Bankers say it is too expensive; the government says the program is under review. So far, no changes to its terms have been made, and the program is set to expire in October.  The flop is among several misfires by the U.K. government in recent months among programs that haven’t drawn interest from the banks and businesses they were intended to help. An effort to give firms trade insurance, for example, has seen only limited participation. The same is true of a loan guarantee for small businesses, which has been disregarded because it requires owners to put their own collateral on the line. The snubbed bailout programs are a testament to the difficult balancing act governments face when attempting to aid their financial sectors and economies: They don’t want to give banks and businesses a free ride, but fail to accomplish anything if their terms are not attractive enough’.

Sad times when our Government have no answers and no action to help our economy.  Out of ideas….soon out of office….

Spot the Dinosaurs!

Ready to travel back to Jurassic Park?  Ready to meet real life dinosaurs?  Well…..Alastair Darling warned us of public sector pay freezes yesterday, and Brian Strutton of the GMB warned immediately a pay squeeze could trigger ‘industrial action’.  The threats of industrial action lie heavily in the air.  There is nothing better that a Union boss likes is a bit of Industrial Action and their time in the media spotlight!!!!!

So here we go again towards a new winter of discontent as the dinosaurs haunt picket lanes and bring the country to its knees….so who should we look out for this winter on our TV screens and local picket lines?….

AFA: Association of Flight Attendants        General Secretary: Saad Bhatkar 

With all the strife building in the Airline Industry as profits tumble, airlines go out of business and the major airlines like BA struggle, Saad will be a busy man.  Likely to bring his Union of Cabin Crew on strike?  Tough in the prevailing conditions in his industry.  A small voice.

ASLEF:Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen    General Secretary: Keith Norman  Membership: m 17,438 f 595 total 18,033

If there is a public sector pay freeze, Norman looks after fire crews and railways railways (drivers, operational supervisors and staff), hence is likely to be a visible man.  Chances of striking are strong.

ATL: Association of Teachers and Lecturers   General Secretary: Dr Mary Bousted    Membership:  m 32,840 f 87,694 total 120,534

The ATL looks after teachers, headteachers, lecturers and teaching support staff in nursery, primary, secondary schools, sixth form and further education colleges staff.  Whilst not as militant as the NASUWT, they will certainly be vocal in a Public Sector pay freeze, so look forward to seeing Mary on screen.  Not the most active on direct action of the teaching Unions.

BALPA: British Air Line Pilots Association  General Secretary: Jim McAuslan   Membership: m 9,191 f 443 total 9,634

Jim represents airline pilots, winchmen and flight engineers (commercial).  Whilst maybe not the most militant Union, the troubles facing Pilots are real, with the likes of BA looking to reduce the number of pilots and flights they have to protect their business in this recession.  Presents issues for Jim.  A small Union but pilots striking obviously grounds planes as their skill is irreplaceable.

Connect telecommunications)   General Secretary :Adrian Askew    Membership :m 15,479 f 3,837 total 19,316

Adrian represents telecommunications, information technology and related industries staff.  His challenge, with his small Union, is how to protect workers in companies like BT.  Small voice in the Dinosaur park.

CWU:(Communication Workers Union)  General Secretary: Billy Hayes   Membership: Membership m 189,133 f 47,546 total 236,679

Pictured here with Billy Hayes on his megaphone, is his Deputy, the very outspoken Dave Ward.  Billy and Dave represent the Royal Mail Group, British Telecom and other telephone companies, Cable TV, Accenture HR Services, the Alliance and Leicester and other related industries.  The chances are very high ie odds on certainly that Billy & Dave will get their workers out on strike over the winter.  Most likely favourites will be the Postal Workers.  Hayes has emerged over the year as a major player and his role in a potential leadership change will be crucial. If Labour face a future winter of discontent it will be Hayes and his colleagues who will have created it.

FBU:  Fire Brigades Union    General Secretary: Matt Wrack  

Matt speaking under a Socialist Workers banner….how unusual.  Fire Brigade workers are known for striking if their pay is frozen.  Given the importance of the fire brigade to society, they have a powerful position to command newspaper headlines, especially if deaths occur because of no fire crews.  Expect to see Matt on your TV screens this Winter if Firemen get a pay freeze.

 GMB    General Secretary: Paul Kenny   Membership: m 326,037 f 264,088 total 590,125

Paul represents Britain’s General Union and has members in public services – primarily NHS, local government, care education; also engineering, construction, shipbuilding, energy, catering, security, civil air transport, aerospace, defence, clothing, textiles, retail, hotel, chemicals, utilities, offshore, food production and distribution.  Kenny is a clever operator who used the private equity industry as an effective stick with which to beat a Labour government he felt was too cosy to the city.   A powerful dinosaur in the jungle and one who could push for any leadership changes in the Labour Party.  Again, one to watch this winter!

NASUWT: National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers  General Secretary: Chris Keates  Membership: m 75,601 f 189,601 total 265,202

Chris is well known for being a softer face of Trade Unionism, preferring to be close to Ministers as being in bed with them gets more results than standing outside the bedroom.  But teachers are becoming more and more frustrated.  teaching is in the headlines again, new Government criticisms, 1.2.1 tutors pending to come into the classroom, moves away from targets, frustration with SATS, league tables…and a public sector pay freeze would certainly be the straw that breaks the camels back.  Expect teachers to be striking this winter if pay frozen.

NUT: National Union of Teachers   General Secretary: Christine Blower (acting)    Membership: m 67,708 f 214,881 total 282,589

As per the NASUWT, pressure will be on to strike for the NUT if there is a public sector pay freeze.  So what of Christine?  A militant? “I see myself as someone who militates on behalf of teachers. There have been times when I felt that the voice of the classroom teacher wasn’t in the minds of our union leaders.”  Socialist? “I think there’s a lot to be said for socialism. It doesn’t mean I see myself as a part of any of those organisations that have ‘socialist’ in the title.” Feminist? There’s no hesitation. “Absolutely. There is less need for women to be strident, but there is absolutely a need for women to continue the fight for equal pay.” She also points out that 70% of teachers are women, but their union leaders are overwhelmingly male.

PCS: Public and Commercial Services Union   General Secretary: Mark Serwotka 

Mark oversees government departments and agencies, public bodies, private sector information technology and other service companies, all making up the PCS.  Given the cuts needed in the Civil Service and public sector bodies & quangos, Mark will certainly be a regular this winter on Sky News and Newsnight!  Along with Bob Crow, Serwotka is one of the most extreme left union leaders in the country. He supports George Galloway’s Respect party!

POA: Prison Officers’ Association  General Secretary: Brian Caton    Membership: m 26,631 f 9,541 total 36,172

Brian represents:  persons employed in any penal or secure establishment or special hospital as a prison officer, a nursing grade, a non-industrial stores grade and NHS secure forensic staff.    Given…….Prison overcrowding, deteriorating conditions for inmates…..a dangerous profession.  A pay freeze may tip Prison workers into striking.

Prospect      General Secretary: Paul Noon   Membership: m 79,764 f 22,938 total 102,702  

Prospect looks after: engineering, scientific, managerial & professional staff in agriculture, defence, electricity supply, energy, environment, health & safety, heritage, industry, law & order, shipbuilding, transport employees.   Smaller union, wont be as visible in the winter of discontent.

RMT: National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers  General Secretary :Bob Crow  Membership: m 66,862 f 9,044 total 75,906

Bob is well known to this blog.  He represents railways and shipping, underground, road transport.  The chances of his union striking?……bets are off.  Racing certainty.  London Underground have been flat out the block striking this summer and nothing will stop Bob Crowosauras from striking over the winter.  Crow is worshipped by his adoring members, especially when he calls them out on strike. His power to bring London to a halt (usually every other year) is testament to his power with his members.

UNISON     General Secretary:Dave Prentis   Membership: m 403,200 f 940,800 total 1,343,000 

Unison represents local government, health care, the water, gas and electricity industries, further and higher education, schools, transport, voluntary sector, housing associations, police support staff.  Unison are a powerful beast in the Union jungle.  Dave threatened Gordon last year with:  “You raise them up, Gordon, or they will bring you down!”     “Our members are worried about how they are going to pay the mortgage or the rent, the gas or electricity, and how they are going to feed their children,” he says. “They have had enough. I cannot ignore that.”   ”Wealthy people are allowed to do whatever they want, out of fear that they will leave the country, so the brunt of the economic turbulence will be borne by working-class people. We have to let the Government know that what it is doing is wrong.”    FYI Dave is on £89,000 pa!  Increasingly outspoken…..Look forward to seeing Dave Prentis on your screens this winter.

UNITE   General Secretary:  Joint Gen Secs Tony Woodley and Derek Simpson   Membership: m 1,506,057 f 446,453 total 1,952,510

Unite is the general union, created in 2007 from the merger of the TGWU and Amicus.  Represented include: manufacturing, engineering, energy, construction, IT, defence aerospace, motor industry, civil aviation, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, steel and metals, shipbuilding, scientists, technologists, professional and managerial staff, electronics and telecommunications, tobacco, food and drink, textiles, ceramics, paper, printing, professional staff in universities, commercial sales, the voluntary sector, banking and financial services, and the National Health Service, administrative, clerical, technical and supervisory; agriculture; building, construction and civil engineering; chemical, oil and rubber manufacture; civil air transport; docks and waterways; food, drink and tobacco; general workers; passenger services; power and engineering; public services; road transport commercial; textiles; vehicle building and automotive.

Who is Derek Simpson?  He is the former leader of Amicus and arguable the stronger leader of this dual leader approach within the massive Unite trade union. An archetypal devil-may-care old style Dinosaur union leader, Simpson has it within his power to create real industrial problems for Gordon Brown. Remember last year when he publicly waved away David Miliband just before the TUC Conference…this was Derek flexing his Union’s muscles.

Woodley is less a media man and public speaker than Derek and this makes him less known.  He still seems to live in the shadow of his predecessor as leader of the TGWU, Bill Morris.

TUC    General Secretary:  Brendan Barber

We must not forget the TUC, which holds all the Unions together.   Not so long ago the holder of the post of TUC General Secretary would have been more powerful than a Labour Prime Minister.  Barber continues to preside over falling union membership and his influence has been slowly taken by individual union general secretaries.  He is a strong advocate of the “new unionism”, advocating a partnership approach towards companies and the government and a drive to organise new members.  His challenge though is that a new generation of union leaders is coming into office, who are less concerned about relations with the government and more concerned about grassroots organising.  He also believes strongly in the role of Europe as a way of enforcing greater rights in the workplace – and ultimately closer integration through membership of the euro.

So these are the people to watch out for over the coming weeks and months…..misery beckons!

Thatcher stood up to Scargill’s Miners…. will DC inherit a Broken Britain after Brown’s ‘Winter of Discontent’?