Labour’s planned increases in everyday spending - £190 billion over the remainder of the parliament, announced in last week’s ‘spending review’ - are firefighting measures, being nowhere near enough to rebuild public services after ’14 wasted years’. Labour’s increases are also dependent on the economy continuing to expand and generate additional taxation revenue. With a … Continue reading The State we’re in
Category: general comment
To build up the military, there’s always the NEETs!
Under pressure from Trump and NATO, the government has announced plans to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP over the next decade. This would mean earmarking more than £10 billion extra every year. While department ministers battle with the Chancellor over their allocation, next week’s Spending Review will see big rises in the budget … Continue reading To build up the military, there’s always the NEETs!
Labour’s new immigration polices
Labour’s new policy stance on immigration has inevitably led to allegations of racism by its critics, but also from many of its own supporters. It’s difficult to refute these claims or deny it's a capitulation to Reform. Though Labour tread carefully on this issue, it’s also the case that post-Brexit, large numbers of the (legal) … Continue reading Labour’s new immigration polices
Making Further Education fit for the Future?
The Parliamentary Education Committee has set up an enquiry - Making Further Education fit for the Future? https://committees.parliament.uk/call-for-evidence/3576/ Any enquiry into this forgotten sector is to be welcome, but its title is rather a misnomer - it isn’t really a enquiry about FE at all. As its subtitle and the initial terms of reference for … Continue reading Making Further Education fit for the Future?
More than one in seven young people are NEET.
Despite fears that slower wage growth might mean the labour market is ‘cooling’, latest statistics suggest otherwise, with a general participation rate of 75% and unemployment only just above 4%. However, ‘economic inactivity’ – those not working but not looking for work – still sits at over 20%, reflecting what commentators have termed a ‘great … Continue reading More than one in seven young people are NEET.
Labour comes after the NEETs
Kendall: 'no option of a life on benefits' According to the shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, under a Labour government there would be “no option of a life on benefits”. Labour’s is targeting the NEETs, (young people Not in Education, Employment or Training’). Figures announced at the end of February show the percentage … Continue reading Labour comes after the NEETs
Young people and wellbeing : does education damage your health?
Despite the economy being in ‘technical’ recession (though this is increasingly expected to be ‘mild’) the labour market continues to boom. With the jobless rate at under 4%, some Tories are pointing to ‘full-employment’ – a term used to describe the prosperous years of the post-war period. Indeed, labour shortages have pushed up wage levels … Continue reading Young people and wellbeing : does education damage your health?
Eighty years on, the post-war education project has come off the rails.
2024 is just around the corner. It will mark the eightieth anniversary of the momentous 1944 Butler Act, considered a ‘triumph for progressive reform’. Yet, even though times have changed, in many respects education continues to operate around the social and economic assumptions growing out of the post-war reconstruction. 'One Nation Tory' Rab Butler First … Continue reading Eighty years on, the post-war education project has come off the rails.
Education, Economy and Society 