Business and Economics

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The huge leak from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca may have dragged in the PMs own late father. 11.5 million documents have been leaked, document work stretching back nearly 40 years and a firm Ian Cameron was director of, has cropped up in the paperwork. It is alleged that Cameron’s dad was embroiled in recruiting what has been dubbed a small army of Bahamas residents, to sign paperwork on behalf of an offshore fund, which...

By Dean Hochlaf As I write, 40,000 workers in the British steel industry face an uncertain future. Tata Steel is on the verge of selling its unprofitable British operations. While attention given to the state of British steel gathers momentum, it is becoming painfully clear that the seeds of the collapse of British steel were sown long ago. There are several reasons as to why we are witnessing this fall, high energy costs among them, however a lot of attention and...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Chancellor has come out fighting and has defended the Government’s handling of the steel crisis, but his special relationship with China is clouding his judgment, critics have claimed. He said the Tories were doing all that is "practicable and possible" to slap tougher tariffs on cheap steel. The steel crisis has been squarely blamed on China continually dumping cheap steel on European markets and making UK steel far too expensive. Instead on intervening, it...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Generous tax breaks have helped create a “shadow” welfare state for the 20 per cent wealthiest in the UK, research has revealed. The Fabian Society believe these high earners will take almost the same as the worst off fifth take in benefits. The Fabians’ general secretary, Andrew Harrop, indicated his research illustrates the latest Budget was another step in remodeling the welfare state as we know it. This shift has moved resources from the poorest...

National news agency SWNS has won funding for a market-leading syndication platform in the first round of grants from Google’s Digital News Initiative (DNI). Google is making a total of £118m (Euro 150m) available in the DNI to support innovation in journalism through technology. SWNS is the largest independent press agency in the UK. The Bristol-based content provider is among just 17 successful applicants in the UK who have been offered funding by the tech giant. In February it was announced that 128...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The City of London has more than three times as many multi-millionaire bankers as the rest of the European Union combined. The number of bankers with a take home pay of over one million Euros (£800k) per annum rose to almost 3 thousand in 2014, one of which made an astonishing €25 million. The UK, which houses Europe’s biggest financial district in London, dwarfs the rest of the EU bankers in terms of large salaries,...

By Prof Mary Mellor The justification for austerity is that the public sector must live within its means. There is a plausibility in the claim that the state is like a household that should not spend more than it earns. This kind of ‘handbag economics’ draws its analogy from a mythical household. Real households do not live within their means. If they did the economy would grind to a halt. Modern prosperity is built upon debt and the main aim...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Tory Minister Anna Soubry made a shock admission as pressure grows to save the port Talbot steel plant. Business minister Soubry says 'temporary ownership' of Tata steel's assets could be an option. This comes as the company made the shock decision to put up for sale the loss making arms of its UK operation. The Tory minister said there is "huge sympathy" for the steel giant, but also added it is losing £1m a day....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor This is an animated interview with IMF whistleblower John Perkins, author of "Hoodwinked" and "Confessions of an Economic Hitman." This short film manages to squeeze in a lot of information into a couple of minutes. Have a watch and see if you agree with his theory. Watch Video Here