HENRY FOWLER, assistant general secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), reports on Day 2 from the GFTU’s residential Summer School at the Workers’ Retreat, Quorn Grange Hotel
IT NORMALLY takes a few days for the bad news in a budget to come to light. But the impact of this week’s Autumn Statement was immediately clear: the Tories are planning yet another assault on the living standards of the vast majority.
The outlook for the general economy is eye-wateringly bad — but for the living standards of the vast majority of people it is horrific.
The British economy is now in a recession that’s expected to last over a year. Ours is the only one of the major economies not to have recovered its pre-pandemic levels. It isn’t set to do so until the end of 2024.
Trade unions call for windfall tax hike to fund social energy tariff to public’s energy bills
The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE
Since 2010, one in five firefighter jobs has disappeared alongside 30% funding cuts — all while climate breakdown brings record blazes and flooding. It’s time to fund our fire service properly, writes FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT


