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Cheap labour is being used to replace civil service jobs and undermine pay rates in sensitive benefit services. Private sector workers being recruited to work alongside professional civil servants to handle tax credit claims at HM Revenue and Customs call centres are to be paid up to £3,300 a year less, advertisements placed by one [...]

A Labour government would not reverse the Tory led-coalition’s planned £26,000-a-year benefits cap – which the Opposition supports “in principle” –despite the party voting with Liberal ­Democrat peers and Church of England bishops to reject it in the House of Lords, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said this week. He said the proposed [...]

As unemployment hits the highest level since 1996, extraordinary benefit claimant figures reveal that the recession has divided the United Kingdom more than ever – with the jobless actually falling in some coalition constituencies while rising rapidly in Labour-held seats.  In a damning indictment of David Cameron’s claim that “we are all in it together”, [...]

If economic growth continues to shrink – or even just to continue flatlining – governments do have scope to reconsider austerity, IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard warned

First signs of structural fissures in the ­historic relationship between the Labour Party and the trade unions have emerged

President Bashar al-Assad has claimed that the violent uprising against his rule is a ­result of “foreign influence and terrorism” and has pledged – to a largely disbelieving world – a new constitution and fresh elections for the country. In a speech broadcast live from Damascus University, he warned of a “foreign conspiracy” to destabilise [...]

“More for less” proclaims the strapline on the latest adverts for the Madrid metro. Given that price increases just announced are around 50 per cent, it is an audacious publicity campaign only partly explained by the neat comparative tables that insist that the Spanish underground is still cheaper than its counterparts in New York and [...]

Bernard Purcell describes some of the challenges that Britain faces over the next 12 months and what is certain to be a very difficult time for many people

Councils in England are starting to fall ­behind in reporting how they spend billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money ­because of ­mistakes and staff shortages following cuts imposed by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles. The Government’s cuts to back office staff are starting to bite in a number of big councils which have missed their auditing [...]

The Conservative-led coalition at Westminster has launched a bid to force the Scottish government to call a referendum on independence earlier than First Minister Alex Salmond and the SNP had planned. The move threatens a constitutional conflict which could end up in the Supreme Court. The British Government claims that the Scottish Parliament has no [...]