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Dec 12, 2024 | 
capx.co | Len Shackleton
Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty ImagesPhoto: Jack Taylor/Getty Images If Labour want to tackle worklessness, they can't be coy about who they're talking about Some social groups are working considerably less than others The Government's reform-lite approach won't get Britons back to work The Government’s recent ‘Get Britain Working’ white paper was received without much enthusiasm.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
msn.com | Len Shackleton
Continue reading More for You Continue reading More for You
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
telegraph.co.uk | Len Shackleton
Keir Starmer has failed to grasp root-and-stem benefits reform Credit: Anadolu The Government’s Get Britain Working White Paper seems at first glance to amount to the square root of nothing much at all. To those with long memories, it’s feeble stuff compared with the Blairite New Deal of the late 1990s. I hold no brief for that series of programmes, but it was an ambitious attempt to grapple with a dysfunctional job market. In a radical break with Labour traditions, it put pressure on...
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
capx.co | Len Shackleton
Photo: Getty Images Spiking is already illegal under two separate laws On the face of it, the incidence of spiking seems high, but there's more to the story Pushing a cosmetic new bill through Parliament will be an expensive waste of time Another day, another law. Spiking – adding drugs or alcohol to someone else’s drink without their permission – is to be made a specific criminal offence, the Government has revealed. The new offence would mean that perpetrators ‘feel the full force of the...
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
iea.org.uk | Kristian Niemietz |Len Shackleton
We’ve all heard Colbert’s famous one-liner about the art of taxation being that of plucking the goose to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing. Well, stuff the goose. Jean-Baptiste Colbert may have been an energetic and resourceful finance minister, but I’m not a fan of the over-regulated dirigisme which was his continuing legacy to France – and nor do I approve of his cynicism towards taxpayers.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
telegraph.co.uk | Len Shackleton
Andy Burnham discovered that Northern Rail continues to use fax machines to contact its train crews Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester’s mayor, was astonished to discover the other day that Northern Rail, the recently nationalised passenger operator, continues to use fax machines to contact its train crews. This is apparently because of a decades-old agreement with the trade unions. The managing director of Northern, Tricia Williams, told a meeting of Rail...
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
iea.org.uk | Kristian Niemietz |Len Shackleton |Matthew Lesh
The Government’s own impact assessment for its employment rights legislation estimates that the measures could cost businesses up to £5 billion annually. To start, this is a substantial amount. Past economic studies and business surveys tell us that it will largely be passed onto consumers through higher prices, workers earning lower wages and/or job losses.
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
capx.co | Len Shackleton |Matthew Lesh
Photo: Peter Nicholls/Getty ImagesPhoto: Peter Nicholls/Getty Images Labour's own impact assessment shows us that their reforms to workers' rights are a bad idea An immediate right to flexible working arrangements for new employees is a terrible policy New employment rights measures are unlikely to boost productivityThe Government’s own impact assessment for its employment rights legislation estimates that the measures could cost businesses up to £5 billion annually.
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Oct 11, 2024 | 
spectator.co.uk | Len Shackleton
Labour’s long-promised Employment Rights Bill may not be quite as immediately game-changing as the trade unions hoped or the business lobby feared. There will be implementation delays, with most elements not operative until 2026 – unsurprising given the expected complexity of the legislation. Further consultation will be needed before more detailed regulations are tabled. But that’s not to say that, when Angela Rayner’s new workers’ legislation does kick in, all will be business as usual.
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Sep 6, 2024 | 
spectator.com.au | Len Shackleton
The last two and a half years have seen a dramatic revival in trade union militancy, with working days lost through strikes reaching their highest level for more than thirty years. The arrival of a Labour government has already seen markedly more generous settlements than the Conservatives offered – and the new administration has committed to legislation intended to boost union power.
