Politics

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Bizarrely, Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary claimed people liked being sanctioned and having their benefits stopped. It is not known if he asked the thousands of people with disabilities, who are to have their ESA cut, if they liked their lowered income. During the shocking outburst he said it help people “focus.” Smith, with a straight face, said that people actually thanked him for cutting their benefits or taking away all together. He...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The session began with Karin Smyth, Lab, wondering if the PM had failed on the number of apprenticeships being offered to our kids. To be fair they can probably make more uploading themselves jumping from scaffolding onto their You Tube channels, than toiling away in a cement factory in Droitwich, but that is beside the point. Each week Labour claim apprenticeship schemes are failing, more children are in poverty and there is less house building...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor George Osborne was dealt another bitter blow as he was defeated in his attempts to extend Sunday trading hours. MPs voted to take the policy initiative from the Enterprise Bill. He was blocked by the SNP and 26 Tory rebels. This left the Government losing by a majority of 31. Noting the major changes to businesses and many online services that are now available 27/7 like banking, shopping and even online forex trading platforms, his...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor The House of Lords was not able to halt a £30-a-week cut to disability benefits forced through by the Government. Charities warned the cut to (ESA) Employment & Support Allowance would make it more difficult for disabled people to find work and many already struggle to afford food at the current benefit level. This is a list of all the MPs who voted for the sharp cuts to disability benefits. Please remember the pay rises they...

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...