Unemployment

Will the Work Programme work?

Just how viable is the government’s scheme to get the long-term jobless back into work? Read more

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Why we need an inquiry into the riots

There has to be a serious inquiry into the recent riots and their causes if we are to avoid a repeat of last week’s tragedy or even worse   Read more

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Inequality, unemployment and unrest

When inequality runs rampant, the unequal run riot as we have seen on the streets of English cities over the past four nights Read more

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Why there were riots in Lewisham

We should not be surprised at riots in inner-city areas like Lewisham. A whole workless generation has been abandoned by society  Read more

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Disability stats: devil in the DWP detail

The rise in numbers claiming DLA are not all that they appear, and are being used by ministers in a potentially misleading way Read more

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A Budget for the people? By Bobby Duffy

There is something a bit awkward about a ‘Budget for growth’ that revises down growth predictions.  Obviously, as the Chancellor argues, this is about the long-term, putting the conditions in place for sustained growth after years of living beyond our means.  And the public still have a lot of sympathy with this view, with a much higher proportion blaming the previous government for the need for cuts than the coalition. Read more...

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Welfare reform: a curate’s egg, by Nigel Meager

As the ambitious Welfare Reform Bill approaches its second reading in the House of Commons, the polarised debate ignited by its weak points risks distracting attention from some of its key benefits, acknowledged by most experts in this area. Read more...

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Welfare reform: can it work? By Helen Disney

Today sees the launch of the coalition’s flagship Welfare Reform Bill. Looking at the gamut of reform challenges which this government has set itself – from radical NHS reform through to free schools, tuition fees, reforming policing, welfare overhaul and so on – the next few years are certainly not going to be easy. Read more...

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Functional friction, by John Marsh

Another working week draws to an end. For many in local government, though, it is a week they will long remember; one in which they were told that they will be made redundant in the near future. Read more...

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The Great Train Wreck of 2013, by Colin Talbot

Looking back on the Great Train Wreck of 2013, some say it was ironic that a government that was formed to tackle a public finance crisis of one sort should have managed to create a quite different one of its own making. But, of course, it wasn’t just a public financial crisis, as public services plunged into chaos. Read more...

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