This is a quick post from Manchester. I'm just back from a meal out (a superb Turkish restaurant called the “Topkati Palace” in Deansgate) with fellow London delegates. Tomorrow's agenda includes debates on motions, keynote speakers RH Harriet Harman MP and our GS Dave Prentis, workshops on...

Latest Unite e-bulletin http://unite.newsweaver.co.uk/bzjvr3tosyp-47daw5oyt3?email=true

The Guardian’s report on what John Denham was due to say at the Fabian launch of their new work on inequality stirred up the blog equivalent of a hornets’ nest.  But when he came to actually deliver his speech, he said something rather different - as Sunder points out. Unfortunately...

The TUC/Bank of Scotland Press and PR awards took place last night, recognising some of the best campaigning, recruitment and member communications work done by national unions in the last year. Campaign of the year was USDAW’s Check Out Learning, which achieved impressive results on the...

A member of the Honduran telecom trade union has been run over and killed by an army truck while trying to block the military’s efforts to bring in private telecom workers to restore services. The worker is believed to be the first victim of the repression of strikers which has followed...

“Do you belong to a Faith Group/Community Group/School/Resident Associations?” read more

HitchhikersTrade Union Guide to Future Shape Consolidation Phase read more

From Sunder Katwala and Luke Akehurst.

I'm not in the habit of beating up Labour, because I'm still convinced that it is the most important progressive force in politics, and my own politics are more labour movement oriented than anything else. But I feel an extended whinge is overdue. Yesterday a mate of mine emailed me this excerpt...

An interesting interview with Keith Skeoch by Hugh at Responsible Investor. A snippet: “I think Paul Myners has done a pretty good job in creating polemic. The interim Walker report will add to that discussion over the summer and when it is finally published, I hope, a step forward on the road to...

A quick plug, you can find all the speeches from the conference at which Paul Myners was speaking here. Sorry, I just noticed that the link was knackered, should be ok now.

As Christopher Hampton proved at the Screenwriters' Festival event a couple of weeks back, Hollywood near-miss stories are strangely fascinating. The demise of Moneyball, despite the commitment of Brad Pitt, is a case in point. Tough for everyone involved, of course, and it's notable how many...

Eighteen months ago we blogged about the possibility that Joost might be the future of TV. Using P2P streaming, they looked set to create a new model of broadcasting that would harness the power of file-sharing. That was then. Now, as Michael Arrington reports for TechCrunch, they've given up....

Genre publishing sometimes falls beneath the mainstream media radar, but Harper Collins seems to be going all out to promote its new imprint, Angry Robot. Well, they've sent me two press releases this week, anyway. Today marks the launch of HarperCollins' new imprint Angry Robot. We'll be serving...

Racist lies put out by the BNP and their “Daily Hate” cheerleaders are pretty much exposed by research from the National Housing Federations (aka the “Fed” in Housing Association circles). The BNP have somewhat successfully peddled the myths that homes are being given to immigrants ahead of...

Check out the official UNISON take on the CWC seminar in the E-Focus newsletter and link to here. The “Universal Owner” argument on which UNISON made a presentation during the seminar is really powerful and persuasive. In a nutshell this theory reminds pension funds that they not only won shares...

Manufacturing. Our future. New EEF report. The employers' organisation makes a case for putting manufacturing at the centre of a more diverse and durable UK economy. Changing Times News Read the latest edition of the TUC's regular free newsletter on work-life balance issues by...

New Labour advanced too far away from the Party’s base of support – it’s political supply lines were over extended and so the Government is being forced to retreat (on the Post Office, ID cards, Trident – not to mention renationalising the North East mainline!) However, as the Government retreats...

Hat-tip: Neilski

A reminder about three upcoming Guild events: New writing inspired by 1984 - 2nd July, Kowalsky Gallery, LondonScreenlit East Midlands Event - 3rd July, NottinghamWest Midlands Branch Meeting - 6th July, Coventry