Category Archives: Public Services for All

(Graph) Police numbers in London have fallen off a cliff edge since Boris became Mayor

2,900 police officers have been cut in London since May 2010, according to new figures released by the Metropolitan Police. Since his re-election in May 2012, Boris Johnson has also cut over 1,300 police officers – despite promising an extra 1,000, the figures show.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , , , | 1 Response

The Royal Mail is a good reason to change the borrowing rules

Why do we insist that there is no difference between a profitable business that pays its own way, like the postal service, and one that depends mainly on taxation to fund it, like a school or a hospital?

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , , , | 1 Response

Right-wing think tank admits stamp price rise and Post Office closures after Royal Mail privatisation

Right-wing think tank Bow Group has admitted that the privatisation of the Royal Mail would see the price of stamps rise and leave a “poisonous legacy” for the Tory party.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , | 2 Responses

Scottish council tax freeze benefits rich at expense of the poor

Scotland’s council tax freeze is harming local public services and benefiting the wealthy the most, undermining the Scottish government’s assertion that the policy is a “vital lifeline to hard pressed Scots”.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , | 1 Response

The ultimate betrayal – Shirley Williams and the Lib Dems hit the NHS where it hurts

April 24 brought Lord Philip Hunt’s motion against the Health and Social Care Act Secondary Legislation Section 75 – a rarely achieved format in the Lords, only allowed in exceptional circumstances.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , , | 64 Responses

Video: Big six energy company paid no corporation tax in three years to 2011

Energy company RWE npower did not pay a single penny of corporation tax in three years despite making profits of £766 million.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , | 23 Responses

Royal Mail wants to combine the best of the private and public sectors

Earlier this week Mario Dunn of Save Our Royal Mail wrote a post claiming that privatisation of the postal service could see the price of a stamp rise to £1. In the interests of debate we’ve allowed Royal Mail to reply. Candice Macdonald works for the Royal Mail Group Royal Mail makes commerce happen by [...]

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , | 12 Responses

Royal Mail is part of the fabric of the nation – we don’t want to see it ripped apart

It is highly likely that the government will begin the privatisation of Royal Mail later this year.

Along with a sell off comes the real threat of stamp prices hitting £1. Price regulation on most stamps was scrapped to boost its attractiveness to investors. It is also quite possible that Royal Mail’s VAT exemption will become unlawful. Add VAT to just one price increase similar to the last one and the first class stamp would hit 94p.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , | 23 Responses

Michael Gove vs Reality

Short video from the NASUWT documenting education secretary Michael Gove’s long struggle with reality.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , | 13 Responses

Dr Beeching may be dead but his spirit lives on

The government is showing the same type of contempt for the UK’s railways and communities that Beeching did all those years ago.

Posted in Public Services for All | Tagged , , | Leave a comment