Bus services to the new Media City development in Salford will now not proceed, as a result of Government funding cuts. As a result of cuts to the Kickstart programme, £382,000 for a bus service from the MediaCityUK complex to Salford Shopping City and Salford Crescent train station will now not be...

Welfare to work blogs are starting to report that ‘most’ of the 16,000 temporary  Jobcentre Plus staff, who were recruited to deal with increased demand for services at the start of the recession, will now not have their contracts renewed. Should this be true, it would be extremely...

Further to my post yesterday on the TaxPayers Alliance ‘report’ on union facility time, atteched are two reports that set out the value to EMPLOYEES and EMPLOYERS of the work carried out...

Those of us who question the scale and depth of the cuts are now being called deficit deniers. Of course we are not. We simply want to get it in proportion, and think through how urgent a problem it is and the best way of dealing with it and other economic issues such as high [...]

International backing grows for ‘Robin Hood tax’ on banks Larry Elliott reports in the Observer on a draft IMF paper which is much more positive about financial transactions taxes (FTTs), ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers which will consider an EU FTT. by...

The Taxpayers Alliance (the organisation that, let us not forget, is NOT an alliance of ordinary tax payers) report on union facility time at best displays a naivety about the nature of the...

Video – Pelosi: Transaction Tax Has “Great Deal Of Merit” Nancy Pelosi, leader of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives, indicates support for a financial transactions tax. by ToUChstoneblog on 04/09/2010

On his blog, Guild member Stephen Gallgher reflects on the differences in TV drama commissioning culture between the US and the UK. [In the US] There's no dithering, there are no hesitant toe-in-the-water strategies. Our own system may not have the critical mass to match that kind of performance,...

From the BBC Writersroom, two new initiatives including a sitcom competition. Called All Mixed-Up, the competition is looking for proposals which reflect diverse Britain. Writers who can demonstrate some professional achievement are being asked to submit the first ten pages of a script to the...

Concern is growing over Mark Thompson’s visit to Number 10 to discuss the BBC’s coverage of government cuts on Thursday. The BBC’s Director General was pictured in Downing Street with a memo from Helen Boaden, his Head of News, detailing what would be covered in a forthcoming series on the cuts,...

Ed Balls made a speech to Bloomberg last week, and Martin Wolf commended his argument in the Financial Times today. Both are worth reading in full, but for the time-challenged, here’s a summary. Government policy rests on four pillars: Labour is to blame for the UK’s economic problems;...

So, how much debt is too much? More than the government admits | Comment is Free Paul Segal has a great post on Comment is Free that demolishes the arguments that we cannot afford to run deficit. by ToUChstoneblog on 03/09/2010

SIMON ASHDOWN wrote the episodes of EastEnders going out on BBC1 at 7:25pm on Tuesday 7th, at 7:30pm on Thursday 9th and at 8:00pm on Thursday 10th September. SEBASTIAN BACZKIEWICZ'S radio series Pilgrim continues with "The Lost Hotel" going out on Radio 4 at 2:15pm on Tuesday 7th...

The Government’s review of workplace pension reforms is now on its final stretch, and is due to deliver its final report towards the end of the month. I have no insight into what they are likely to say, although there is clearly heavy lobbying from the pensions industry to rip the settlement...

 The TUC was among the “coalition” of 22 green groups, green manufacturers and countryside bodies warning Chris Huhne against cutting subsidies for green electricity and heating as part of the government’s spending review. Their letter said a new air of uncertainty over government support,...

Connexions Services in Windsor and Maidenhead, Brighton and Hove and Birmingham are at risk of outright closure, whilst those in Northamptonshire, Sutton, Cheshire and Warrington, and Wigan face cuts of 40 per cent or more. These cuts and more are detailed in a database produced by A Thousand Cuts...

In less than three weeks, the UN will hold a review summit on the Millennium Development Goals (set in 2000, they are due to be achieved in 2015 so we ought to be two thirds of the way there – and we aren’t). Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and International Development Secretary of...

Women and cuts – new report by Ken Livingstone Women in London will face a disproportionate share of public spending cuts, according to a new report, published today by Ken Livingston. The cuts in benefits and tax credits for families and children, the assault on Housing Benefit and the...

The London Screenwriters’ Festival is offering members of the Writers' Guild a special discount of £75 off the regular festival ticket price of £299. The London Screenwriters’ Festival is the new annual writers’ and filmmakers’ festival, focusing on the creation and development of material for...

On The Guardian Theatre blog, Guild member John Morrison accuses British theatre of abusing the work of playwrights not working in English. One can argue that in the theatre anything goes, particularly when the author is safely dead and long out of copyright. But one of the principles that marks...