Politics

The Sun is in an unenviable position. The tabloid's recent report claiming the Queen made eurosceptic remarks to Nick Clegg has prompted a formal complaint from palace authorities. For a paper that trades on its knee-jerk patriotism and publishes frequent gushing pieces on the monarchy, a false story about the Queen is about as bad as it can get. Still worse, if The Sun has used the Queen to push a political agenda the public outcry will be fierce. Is...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The number of UK workers on zero-hour contracts is now at 801,000 up 104,000 in only a year. The Labour party tried to outlaw these types of employment deals, but instead they have increased sharply. It could be seen as a blow to job recovery, as verging on a million people are on contracts that don’t necessarily guarantee even one hour’s work in any given week, and can have hours taken away or added at...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Chancellor failed to suppress a smile as his plans to enact more austerity cuts were quoted during PMQs, as ever a charming individual. Watch video here 

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor There has been anger after Tory minister Baroness Williams said homeless people chose to sleep rough. Charities have said "rough sleeping isn't a lifestyle choice" after her remarks in the upper house during a debate. The Communities Minister made her controversial statement as she argued with other peers over the amount of beds available to get people off the streets. Labour's Baroness Armstrong, said rough sleeping had more than doubled since the Tories took power...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have said that extra direct competition would see greater efficiency, lower fares and better use of rail capacity. They said that rival train firms should run services on the same lines, which would see an end to the franchises on major intercity lines. This idea was considered and rejected on operational grounds when railways were first privatised in 1994. This report has been released just before Nicola Shaw’s review into the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It was described by one peer as a “black day for disabled people” as the Lords was forced to accept cuts to ESA (Employment Support Allowance) given to sick and disabled people, the most vulnerable in society. After a brave fight by the Lords they were forced to back down in their opposition to the Government’s brutal plans. The Lords had managed to defeat ministers twice over plans to cut £30 a week from ESA. However,...

This is the latest guest feature from Richard Roberts, 26, author of Musings of a Young Londoner .  If you would like to feature on The London Economic, you can submit your articles here.   I’m a pro-capitalist social democrat. No, it’s not an oxymoron. It means roughly this: Philosophically, sure, I have qualms about a system that privileges the accumulation of private financial wealth above all other ends in life. But practically, I see no viable alternative to capitalism....

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Jeremy Hunt is not exactly top of the our xmas card lists and as the junior doctors row continues to rumble on; support for the medics seems to be holding, and he looks increasingly under pressure. So maybe is was a good time to win an award, right? Wrong. Channel's 4 The Last Leg awarded him the title "dick of the year" and attempted to give Hunt his accolade, but he refused to accept it,...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Shocking figures have revealed that women who work for the Tory minister responsible for closing the gender pay gap are paid almost two pounds per hour less than men in the same roles. Government’s figures state that male civil servants earn £22.30 a hour on average at the Department of Education however women make just £20.54. Nicky Morgan recently said she plans to “name and shame” companies who did not pay men and women equally...