Monthly Archives: February 2016

Ice-cold in Calais

Posted on February 18, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

This morning I was up early to accompany Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and London Assembly member Jenny Jones as they visited a ‘bunch of migrants’ (© David Cameron) in the Calais refugee ‘camp’ known – seemingly with good reason … Continue reading →

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Minimum wage enforcement, the Tory way

Posted on February 15, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Something very unusual has been going on with enforcement of the national minimum wage. As the following table shows, over the past five years HMRC has recovered an average of £3.9 million in arrears for an average of 23,147 workers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Workers' rights | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Don’t panic, Mr Boles!

Posted on February 12, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Scene: The private office of BIS skills minister, Nick Boles. Civil servant (breathlessly): “Ah, minister and permanent secretary, I’m glad I’ve caught you both. We have a situation.” Minister: “What, trouble in the City?” Civil servant: “No, minister, the City … Continue reading →

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BIS, you cannot be serious!

Posted on February 5, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

So, with markedly less media hoo-ha than on previous occasions, BIS today ‘named & shamed’ another 92 employers for breaching the national minimum wage (NMW). The relative dearth of national media coverage may reflect the absence from this tranche – … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Workers' rights | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments