http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Fri, 24 May 2013 01:00:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/28/the-tension-between-the-old-and-the-young/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/28/the-tension-between-the-old-and-the-young/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:00:52 +0000 Caroline Mortimer http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=27847 Thousands of teenagers ran out of their schools and sixth form colleges clutching GCSE and A-Level results last week, many of them excited about what the future holds. But that future is rarely in their hands.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/28/the-tension-between-the-old-and-the-young/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/24/why-george-osborne-should-give-everyone-in-britain-a-new-credit-card/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/24/why-george-osborne-should-give-everyone-in-britain-a-new-credit-card/#comments Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:43:38 +0000 Miles Kimball http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=27757 The basic problem is that fear is causing many households and firms in the private sector who could spend to cut back on their spending, while others who would be glad to spend more cannot get access to credit.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/24/why-george-osborne-should-give-everyone-in-britain-a-new-credit-card/feed/ 5 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/16/what-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-really-said/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/16/what-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-really-said/#comments Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:35:20 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26414 George Osborne is attempting to slash a £130bn deficit over 7 years. The OBR says we have, on top of this, to cut £17bn over 50 years. Are we going to swallow the camel and strain on the gnat?]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/16/what-the-office-for-budget-responsibility-really-said/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/119-billion-the-contribution-of-carers-and-savings-to-the-economy-is-woefully-overlooked/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/119-billion-the-contribution-of-carers-and-savings-to-the-economy-is-woefully-overlooked/#comments Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:00:34 +0000 Nicky Clark http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25782 As a carer, if I had to give you my rating on a scale of one to ten with ten being great and one being beyond crap I’d say I’m at three currently.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/119-billion-the-contribution-of-carers-and-savings-to-the-economy-is-woefully-overlooked/feed/ 40 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/28/moral-judgements-have-no-place-in-the-benefits-system/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/28/moral-judgements-have-no-place-in-the-benefits-system/#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 01:00:39 +0000 Ruth Whippman http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25725 If there’s one thing that David Cameron is clear about, it’s that he wants us all to do the ‘Right Thing,’ a phrase that popped up no less than seven times in his deeply moralising speech about the benefits system earlier this week. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/28/moral-judgements-have-no-place-in-the-benefits-system/feed/ 176 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/26/not-another-live-aid/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/26/not-another-live-aid/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2012 23:00:52 +0000 Sarah Mulley http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25643 Next year will be crucial for the UK’s international development policy. With the UK in the G8 chair and David Cameron co-chairing a UN committee that will oversee the setting of new global development goals, the UK once again has an opportunity to shape international action against poverty.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/26/not-another-live-aid/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/25/young-people-are-sick-of-being-pushed-around/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/25/young-people-are-sick-of-being-pushed-around/#comments Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:05:15 +0000 Caroline Mortimer http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25635 There is a story retold by historian, Robert Darnton, about a series of ritualistic murders of cats in the printers’ district of pre-revolutionary Paris that shocked and horrified its residents. It turned out that the cats were killed by the apprentices as revenge for the ill treatment, low pay and little chance of career advancement at the hands of their masters and their masters’ wives.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/25/young-people-are-sick-of-being-pushed-around/feed/ 97 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/20/the-doctors-strike-putting-the-medical-profession-in-the-firing-line/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/20/the-doctors-strike-putting-the-medical-profession-in-the-firing-line/#comments Wed, 20 Jun 2012 01:00:41 +0000 Dr Russell Razzaque http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25453 There are nearly twenty million people unemployed across Europe today; that’s over 10% of the entire working population. Against this backdrop, for doctors to go on strike for the first time in a generation in protest of pension arrangements that will still leave us with a retirement income in excess of £50,000 a year, looks callous from any perspective.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/20/the-doctors-strike-putting-the-medical-profession-in-the-firing-line/feed/ 13 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/#comments Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:57:17 +0000 James Moore http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24907 It had to happen eventually: in my efforts to recover from a spending a morning with an oil tanker on top of me I have come up against the postcode lottery. And my number is a losing one.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/31/david-cameron-did-the-right-thing/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/31/david-cameron-did-the-right-thing/#comments Thu, 31 May 2012 11:10:28 +0000 Ben Chu http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24827 Let's imagine that the Fiscal Compact was up and running and that Britain had signed up. That would mean that the Government would technically be liable for big fines for failing to hit those Commission mandated targets. And if it wanted to avoid those fines it might have had to tighen fiscal policy further, by about 0.5% of GDP per year (or around £7.5bn) ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/31/david-cameron-did-the-right-thing/feed/ 2 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/the-olympics-and-the-jubilee-distract-from-the-real-issues-this-summer/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/the-olympics-and-the-jubilee-distract-from-the-real-issues-this-summer/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 03:00:06 +0000 James Bloodworth http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23983 "Everyone" is getting geared up for the summer of celebration, or at least so the Establishment tells us. But these are welcome diversions from more serious issues, says James Bloodworth.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/05/09/the-olympics-and-the-jubilee-distract-from-the-real-issues-this-summer/feed/ 58 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/27/remploy-closures-right-in-theory-but-where-does-it-leave-disabled-employees/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/27/remploy-closures-right-in-theory-but-where-does-it-leave-disabled-employees/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:50:52 +0000 Laurence Clark http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=23614 Over the past six weeks I’ve had mixed feelings towards the proposals to close 36 Remploy factories, leading to compulsory redundancies for 1,518 disabled workers. On the one hand, I’ve always been against sheltered workplaces which feel to me like a relic from a bygone age. But on the other hand, the government’s timing of this move, coinciding with high unemployment, cuts to support funding and the erosion of employment rights feels very unfair and misjudged.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/04/27/remploy-closures-right-in-theory-but-where-does-it-leave-disabled-employees/feed/ 72