Going by train? You'd better walk!

Train fares will rise by up to 10 per cent in the new year.

The rises were announced just before Christmas by Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies.

General fares would rise on January 2 by an average of 5,9% while regulated ones, which include season tickets, will go up by an average of 6%.

Mr Roberts said he understood that a lot of people faced financial difficulties but money raised through fares helps pay for new trains and better service and the industry is also looking to limit fare rises over the longer term. He also claimed the rises would ease the burden on general taxpayers for running the railways.

Even though rail travellers will return to work in January to face inflation-busting fare rises, they are luckier than occasional passengers.

In fact, while season tickets rises are capped at one per cent above the rate of inflation this year, there is no limit of prices for most other tickets.

Christmas shopping is cheaper than ever

To make the sale happening retailers all over the UK have to make high discounts before than Christmas.

Many firms have already launched their after-Christmas sales. Argos, Body Shop, Debenhams, French Connection, Gap, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and many others have all started their winter sales ahead of what are expected to be the two most lucrative days of the year. They hope to empty shop floors and warehouses containing mountains of stock.

A report by accountant RSM Tenon released yesterday paints a bleak picture of the state of the high street.

According to the document 13 per cent of retailers, nearly 9,000 are at high-risk of going into liquidation.  

Even more worrying data released on the same day showed UK shopper numbers for this week are lower than the snow-affected period last year.

Consumers are surely happy to save some money just before Christmas.

However, many shoppers who bought early were furious to find goods they had already bought reduced by up to 80 per cent.

Nightlife in central London will still be affordable

Plans to charge motorists to park in the evening and at weekends have been scrapped until after next summer’s Olympics.

After the furore that has met Westminster’s proposal to introduce fees from next January, the council leader Colin Barrow announced that the parking rules would be delayed until after the Games.

The decision followed a High Court judge’s pronouncement to allow a judicial review of the plan amid warnings it could cost £800million in lost businesses and 5,100 jobs.

Restaurants, pubs, high-street businesses, churches and Government ministers have condemned the measure among fears it could hit the central London economy. New parking discounts for workers and businesses were announced on Tuesday under a deal with National Car Parks in order to deflect attacks on Westminster council’s tax on nightlife. But the victory for campaigners came after the High Court judge’s decision.

Westminster council plan consists of measures intended to abolish free parking on single yellow lines and parking bays after 6.30pm during the week and between 1pm and 6pm on Sundays. Mr Barrow insists it is a bid to ease evening congestion and not an ‘inappropriate’ way of making savings. 

Following the decision to postpone the charges, the mayor of London Boris Johnson has promised Tfl will be working with Westminster on measures to combat congestion.

The move would have meant removing almost 2,000 free spaces from the West End and could have lead to a disastrous clash with the diamond jubilee and the Games.

Bendy Buses farewell

London’s bendy buses will not be seen in the capital’s streets anymore after the 207 from White City to Hayes Bypass made a final journey today.

Mayor Boris Johnson called them “bulky and ungainly monstrosities – more suitable for the wide open vistas of Scandinavian airport than for London’s narrow streets” and was glad to see the back of them.

The bendies were also the fare-dodgers’ favourite, as passengers could jump on the single-decker buses without getting their ticket checked.

Transport for London said the scrapping of bendy buses was expected to save more than £7 million annually as fare evasion became difficult, but it will cost £2.2 million to convert the 29 and 207 routes.

In fact, the 350 scrapped bendies have been replaced with 500 new vehicles, 50 of which are hybrid diesel-electric double-decker buses.

The Liberal Democrats said the replacement of the articulated buses, which could carry up to 140 people, compared to about 85 on a double-decker, meant capacity on the 12 routes had fallen by between five and 26 per cent.

We should expect more crowded bus journeys in the near future, then.

London’s old bendy buses, which Mr Johnson began removing in 2009, are already in use in Leicester, Merseyside and in the Mediterranean isle of Malta.

The Mayor of London had also opted to replace some of them with a new version of the expensive Routermaster, which will start running at the beginning of 2012.

Bendy buses were introduced in 2002 by Ken Livingstone as a way of moving large numbers of passengers amid soaring bus popularity, but they became unpopular by blocking streets and leaving travellers feeling queasy in the rear-facing seats.

Pricey nightlife in the West End

The cost of West End parking fees could become prohibitive from next January.

Westminster council leader Colin Barrow wants to abolish free parking on single yellow lines and parking bays after 6.30pm during the week and between 1pm and 6pm on Sundays. The council is planning to charge up to £4.80 an hour in the West End up to midnight on weekdays and on Sunday afternoons from January 9, 2012.

Council leaders say it is a bid to ease evening congestion.

But Government ministers, the capital's main employers, small shop owners and unions have condemned the measure as a revenue-raising raid on motorists that could stop people from driving to the West End. 

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson last week called on Westminster council to abandon plans for a nightlife tax on central London after other cities warned of parking fees negative economic impact on many businesses.

People who go to Soho, Covent Garden and Mayfair in the evenings and at weekends generally leave their cars and go to restaurants, bars, pubs, cinemas or theatres. If the council makes it consistently more expensive to have a night out in central London, people will go elsewhere.

And most worrying of all is the impact on jobs, as many places and firms could face closure.

On the high street things are already looking a bit shaky and with the current economic climate, these parking charges could be injurious to the city’s economy.

A mass walkout to defend public sector pensions

Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers took industrial action today to protect their pension.

  

More than 1,000 rallies were held across the country and one protest in central London was attended by tens of thousands. It was the biggest walkout in UK since the 1970S and most people came on strike for the first time in their career.

About 2.6 million workers have been balloted in the row over Government plans to make them work longer, pay more taxes and get lower pensions.

Following tensions between unions and ministers, the Government had also declared that it would withdraw an improved offer if the pension dispute was not settled by the end of the year.  Ministers added that people near pension won’t be affected.

However, the Trades Unions Congress (TUC) accused the Government of alienating its workforce and public sector workers did not change their plan to take the streets.

The strike did not bring the nation to a standstill but more than 70 per cent of the schools shut all over the UK.

Also courts, museums and libraries closed, transport was disrupted and thousands of NHS appointments and operations were cancelled.

A group of 37 protesters were arrested in London to prevent further trouble following an attack on a Police Community Support officer (PCSO).

Apart from this event, the protest was mostly peaceful.

Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed the action as irresponsible and damaging, while the Labour party leader Ed Miliband said that even though he does not support strikes, he cannot condemn those taking action.

Arcadia is under the storm

One of Britain’s biggest retailers will be closing 260 shops in UK within the next three years.

The Arcadia empire, which includes brands such as Topshop, Topman, BHS, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Evans and Wallis has seen a near 40 per cent slide in profits as sales have slumped by 4.4 per cent in the past three months.

The owner of Arcadia Sir Philip Green, has announced plan to close 10 per cent of his high street stores, as the market is currently though and trading had worsened since the start of the new financial year.

The retail tycoon would be making the cuts as leases come up for renewal; of the more than 2,500 shops the billionaire owns worldwide, most of them in the UK, the leases on about 450 expire in the next three years. At least 260 branches will shut in the UK and it is still unclear how many job cuts will follow from the store closures.

Sir Philip also said the firm's young fashion brands Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge were trading positively. His daughter Chloe has announced that she is currently designing shoes for Topshop, trying to get the collection ready for her launch next year.

However, with UK living standards falling at their fastest rate for years and many companies gone into liquidation, other chains could retreat soon.

Three million unemployed in UK

Unemployment in UK is approaching three million.

According to the Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King, the country is facing the worst financial crisis since the inter-war slump.

Youth unemployment is running at 20 per cent, roughly the European average, with more than 1 million 16-to 24-year olds without a job. Some of these youngsters have never had the chance to work.

Figures also include more than 58 million over-fifties who have been out of work for more than 12 months. Those experienced people will hardly find a work again. Many of them will have retired earlier than they planned and on a lower retirement income than they were supposed to get.

Mr King also declared that prospects for the British economy have worsened as the risk of a double-dip recession had grown and pinned blame on crisis in the eurozone.

Meanwhile, St Paul’s Institute, a church group that seeks to engage banks with moral questions, published a report based on a poll of 515 City workers according to which the majority of employees have admitted that they are overpaid. Two-thirds of people working in the City cannot even say when the last two recessions took place.

Murdoch junior was kept in the dark

The son of media empire appointed heir, James Murdoch appeared in front of MPs yesterday to answer further questions on the phone hacking scandal.

Mr Murdoch accused former executives at News of the World (NOTW) of keeping him in the dark as he was not fully informed of evidence that phone hacking at its now defunct tabloid was more widespread than previously admitted.

However, former NOTW editor Colin Myler confirmed that Mr Murdoch knew about phone-hacking and former News International lawyer Tom Crone said that his boss was attempting to discredit him by saying he was unaware of the scandal.

The committee is still investigating who knew about the hacking NOTW.

Education for the masses, not just for the ruling classes

A mass protest against tuition fees took place yesterday in London and was led by more than 5,000 students who walked from Bloomsbury to the City.

The march was organised by The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and demonstrators joined the protest to voice their anger over education cuts and increased tuition fees. Students hold placards reading 'No Cuts', 'RIP Higher Education', 'Education for the masses - Not just for the ruling classes' and 'No Public Sector Cuts'.

The event marks the one-year anniversary of the riots at the Conservative Party Headquarters in Milbank, but was in marked contrast to the previous protest.

In fact, more than 4,000 police were deployed to avoid the violence that hit the capital last year. They formed lines in Fleet Street to stop demonstrators heading to St Paul’s Cathedral to join the Occupy London group and arrested 24 people, including 12 for breach of the peace.

Other key supporters of the protest were the National Union of Students, UK Uncut, the Education Activist Network, Occupy London Protesters from Occupy LSX and the Trade Unions.

Save the Travel Bookshop

The economic downturn had hit one of Britain’s most famous book stores.

After more than three decades in business the Travel Bookshop is due to close in two weeks unless a last-minute buyer can be found.

The well-known bookshop in west London was the inspiration for the 1999 romantic comedy Notting Hill in which its owner, played by Hugh Grant, met and fell in love with a famous film actress played by Julia Roberts.

The 1999 movie turned the store into one of London’s most popular tourist attraction, regardless of the fact that the scenes were not filmed in the store, but in a nearby antique shop with recreated interiors.

The Travel Bookshop is having a bad time, but a group of supporters are rallying to save it from closure. In fact, this group of writers and poets is offering to volunteer a day a week to help run it if a new buyer can be found.

Meanwhile, other independent bookshops all over the country are threatened with closure because of the recession.

BBC journalists go on strike

BBC journalists nationwide went on strike yesterday in protest at compulsory redundancies.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is facing significant cuts to the central government grants that fund BBC Monitoring and the World Service. A number of compulsory redundancies have already been made and more job cuts are expected in the coming weeks.

Picket lines were mounted outside studios and offices, including the BBC TV Centre in west London and cities like Belfast, Glasgow and Manchester. Meanwhile significant parts of the BBC news network were disrupted due to the strike and there is a warning of more disruption on the way.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is solidly supporting the BBC journalists and staged walkouts that hit several shows on Radio 4 and 5 Live and caused the loss of radio flagships PM and The World at One. NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet is said to have told strikers they have had messages of support from other unions and members of the public who think that quality journalism is under attack.

Lucy Adams, the BBC's director of business operations, said six out of seven employees were working normally and only limited changes to programmes had been made.

NUJ and BBC bosses will meet for talks next week, on August 11.

Looking forward to July 27, 2012

Yesterday marked the year-to go milestone in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Hundreds of sports fans gathered in Trafalgar Square to celebrate the start of the Olympics countdown while London Mayor Boris Johnson unveiled an Olympic countdown clock in the square.

He also announced that the aquatics centre was open and several past Olympians had christened the pool to mark the ‘one year to go to the Olympics’ anniversary.

The main stadium, velodrome, handball arena, basketball arena and international broadcast centre are all ready; this means that almost 90 per cent of building work at the main Olympics Park in Stratford, east London, is now complete.

According to the Prime Minister David Cameron, London 2012 organisers are in this good position of facilities being completed a year in advance that it will be possible to test and make sure everything is perfect.

Despite the excitement over such results, there are still challenges that lie ahead: transport, security and legacy.

London warren-like road system means that chaos could prevent athletes getting to the Games on time; this is why there will be banned turns, phased traffic lights and suspended parking bays. Mr Johnson is also urging Londoners to work from home, cycle or walk to work to ease pressure on public transport.
Security is also under the spotlight and even though there have been some changes at the Met, following the hacking scandal, Mr Cameron, who chairs government emergency committee Cobra, assured people that London has a good set-up for dealing with terrorism.
It is still unclear, instead, whether the £9 billion Olympics will give a long term value for money. By the way, ministers hope that London 2012 will be a showcase for British businesses, as more than one hundred heads of state and many CEOs will be in town during the major sport event.

Meanwhile Londoners and sports fans from all over the world are wondering what Danny Boyle, who is in charge of London’s opening spectacular, has up his Oscar-winning sleeve for July 27 next year.

The most humble day of my life

Rupert Murdoch and his son James were being questioned by MPs about News Of the World (NOTW) phone hacking scandal yesterday. 

The media tycoon declared to be shocked and appalled by recent revelations. In a hesitant performance before MPs, he denied ultimate responsibility for the hacking scandal and blamed people he trusted for having let the newspaper group down.

His son James tried to reply for him several times, but MPs ensured Mr Murdoch senior answered himself; he confessed his regret over not calling in the police when he approved a £ 700,000 payout to a phone-hacking victim three years ago. In fact, he did not know it was common practice.

The pair’s evidence was followed by that of Rebekah Brooks, the NOTW chief executive who resigned her post last week, before being arrested on Sunday. The most powerful woman in British newspapers admitted she knew about the use of private detectives while she was editor of the NOTW, but declared that she would not have approved specific payments to investigators.

Yesterday Mr Murdoch was fighting to save his empire after two weeks of negotiations, apologies and arrests. In fact, before Ms Brooks was arrested on suspicion of corruption, Mr Coulson, the former official spokesman for PM David Cameron and the former editor of the News Of The World, had been arrested as well. Moreover, both Sir Paul Stevenson, who was Britain’s most senior police officer and the Met Assistant Commissioner, Mr John Yates, had resigned amid phone-hack scandal.

The most famous media empire appointed heir, James Murdoch, said he and his father would like over the next six months, years and years, to be judged on the actions the company takes to put this right.

Free travel cards for the Olympics tickets holders

London 2012 will post about eight million paper travel cards with Olympic tickets.

The free tickets scheme is available to all 2012 ticket winners and it comes as the Olympics chiefs promised car-free Games, essential to confirm London’s environmental credibility.

Free 1-9 zone travel cards will be given to millions of Olympics spectators, including overseas visitors and sponsors, to travel to this world famous sports event.

London taxpayers are worried as they could be landed with a multi-million-pound bill in order to fund free travel for all the Olympics ticket holders, but transport bosses said Londoners won’t pay the bill for the free travel.

The scheme comes as Games chiefs have dropped the idea to top up existing cards belonging to Londoners with free one day travel cards. The previous plan has been scrapped as it was too complex.

Last News Of the World

The News Of The World (NOTW) published for the last time in its 168-year history yesterday.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdock closed the Britain’s best-selling newspaper in a desperate attempt to limit the ongoing scandal over years of phone hacking.

Up to 4,000 people, including the parents of murdered Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, those of Danielle Jones and Milly Dowler, relatives of July 7 victims and of British soldiers killed abroad have been targeted.

Ms Brooks, who is News Of The World chief executive and its former editor in 2000-2003, is accused of personally hiring private detectives during the phone hacking activities. To make things even worse, News International has given Scotland Yard papers showing that inappropriate payments were made to police officers in return for confidential information, it was confirmed last week.

Several high-profile NOTW staff and the officers concerned are likely to be arrested within the next few days.

Labour leader Ed Miliband launched a scathing attack on Ms Brooks, saying she should take responsibility and stand down. He also called for the takeover of BSkyB by the News Of The World’s parent company News Corp to be delayed and referred to the Competition Commission. Meanwhile Prime Minister David Cameron told the Commons a public investigation would take place as soon the police investigation was completed.

The tabloid lost millions of pounds last week as more advertisers left the newspaper after customers expressed anger at the phone hacking claims. A fresh wave of companies followed the example set by Ford on Tuesday July 5 and withdrew their promotions from the NOTW: Mitsubishi, Virgin Holidays, Sainsbury’s, Boots, O2 and Dixon are just a few of the brands that pulled their adverts.

The developments piled even more pressure on the newspaper’s chief executive, to quit. Despite News International boss Rupert Murdoch condemned the allegations as deplorable and unacceptable, he backed Ms Brooks to continue in her current role.

On the other side, nearly 200 journalists have lost their jobs and are set to sue Rupert Murdock for unfair dismissal following the closure of the most popular Sunday’s newspaper in the UK.

From its beginnings, the News Of The World specialised in scandal and royalty, politicians, sport stars and celebrities who have been exposed in kiss and tell revelations may be relieved at its closure.

The hacking scandal is one of the biggest affecting the press in living memory, but rumors reveal that Mr Murdock is already thinking to introduce a new 'member' into his media empire. In fact, The News Of The World is likely to be replaced with a Sunday version of the News International’s flagship daily, The Sun.

Thousands of children have to move from central London

Thousands of school children in central London may be forced to move home and school because of housing benefits cuts.

More than 4,000 children are estimated to be living in Westminster, the borough which will be most affected by the housing benefit caps. Also Islington, Camden and Kensington & Chelsea will be impacted by the Government’s benefit shake-up; nearly 3,500 children in total are expected to have to move from these boroughs.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, stressed that he had secured significant concessions from the Government including more funding, incentives for landlords to reduce rents and more time for existing claimants before benefit caps become effective. He wants to ensure that the welfare changes are brought in ‘humanely’.

The manoeuvre will anyway cause huge disruption to thousands of families, increase pressure on school places in outer London and risk leaving schools in the centre of the capital struggling with a number of surplus places which may be costly to maintain.

The restrictions on housing benefit payments, which came into force in April for new claimants, are meant to stop people from getting over £100,000 a year to leave in homes the average family can only dream of.
The benefit caps will apply to people already receiving the benefits from next January.

Feis-tival in Finsbury Park

Last weekend Finsbury Park, one of the main park in North London, was transformed into a wonderland for Irish music lovers.

Despite the weather, more than 70 thousand people of any age took part in the Feis Festival between Saturday and Sunday.

With the likes of The Cranberries, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Thin Lizzy -just to mention a few- it was far from unenjoyable.

Gunel Addullaerva is a hairdresser from Stoke Newington and came to the festival with her partner. “This is my first time at the Feis Festival; I came yesterday to see the Afro Celt Sound System performing and they were simply great! I am sure tonight is going to be exciting as well and I will be happy to come next year,” she said.

Despite the vast repertory of Irish music, some of the participants were no really happy about the organisation. Christopher Whitby is a museum worker from Finsbury Park and was at the Festival for a second day in a row to see his favourite singers on stage. “This Festival is all right, I had the chance to see The Gaslight Anthem yesterday and today I am here because of Van Morrison’s performance but the organisation is a bit disappointing. Queues are long anywhere and it feels a bit like a local fair,” he said.

Many professionals linked to the world of music took part in the Feis Festival, as well. Stuart-Roy Clark is photographer from the Lake District and came to London to make pictures for one of his exhibitions. “I produce books and art exhibitions all over the UK and I have collected material from 155 festivals in six summers, but this is the first one in am attending in London. The best pictures will go into one of my next exhibitions,” he said.

A Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and culture festival and this year it was its first time in Finsbury Park, which was partially closed to the general public for the duration of the build and on event days.

Airport number six is on its way

London will get its sixth major international airport when easyJet starts flying from Southend before the Olympics.

Southend was unveiled yesterday as the new base for easyJet, which will launch 70 flights a week on 10 scheduled routes in April 2012.

The low-cost airline expects to fly more passengers into London next summer than any other airline, as Southend will be the closest airport to the Olympics.

There are three new routes that have already been confirmed: Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza. The other seven European destinations will be disclosed soon. EasyJet expects to attract many holidaymakers heading to the Spanish resorts but also business travellers.

Southend, which is close to the mid-Thames estuary site, in Essex, was Britain’s third biggest airport 50 years ago and served as the initial base for Sir Freddy Laker’s pioneering cut-price New York Service. It fell into rapid decline with the rise of Gatwick and Stansted and now has only a few flights per week to Jersey and to Ireland.

A newly-built control tower at London Southend Airport is now fully operational thanks to the Stobart Group, which has invested millions of pounds in the project. A runaway extension, a new terminal building and the railway station are due to be finished this autumn.

There is some good news for those who are always in a hurry; passengers will not suffer long queues as the airport has been designed for short-haul travel and there won’t be long distances to travel through the terminal.

Countdown to the huge strike

Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) will stage a one-day strike over pension row at the end of June.

The Government’s pension proposals will leave teachers working longer, losing serious money from their pay every month to support the new scheme and receiving less when they retire. These new plans are also giving teachers the chance to question if it is all worth it.

Teachers’ ballots show overwhelming support for strike: 83 per cent of ATL members and 92 per cent of NUT members voted in favour of the biggest day of strike since the government came into power. June 30 will also be the first time in the history of the ATL that the teaching union takes national strike action.

Civil servants and other public sector staff will be joining hundreds of thousands of teachers and lecturers who backed a walkout in protest at pension changes. About 750,000 workers are espected to take part in the strike, while thousands of schools will be hit by major disruption, job centres will be closed and queues will form at airports.

Meanwhile, more than 1 million workers in the UK’s biggest public sector union are prepared for protracted strikes over pension changes, job, pay and service cuts. The proposed action is likely to take place later this year.

Going to University? You should consider apprenticeships instead of a degree spot.

More than 200,000 candidates might miss out on university places this year as applications hit a record high.

With many university tuition fees looking to treble to up to £9,000 in 2012, this is the last chance most students have to apply and pay normal annual fees, before top education will be restricted to the rich elite.

Applications are already up 1.4 per cent on this time last year and if the current demand is maintained, more than 700,000 students will submit requests for 479,000 places, meaning three in ten will miss out on a degree place.

Among applicants there are also some of the students who were hopeful of making it on to a course in 2010. In fact 27 per cent of them were left disappointed and according to student leaders, the government’s failure to act on last year’s figures by adding more places was unacceptable.

Universities Minister David Willets said students should start to consider apprenticeships instead of fighting for a degree spot.

Meanwhile there are thousands of ambitious young people who want to know how universities will spend the extra income while others are anxious about job prospects after graduating.

Interview with Angry vs The Bear

Angry vs The Bear (AVB) is a group of young talented artists who write their songs all together and truly believe they will succeed.

Mitzi Fox, Patrick and Darren had been part of another band previously and in 2008 decided to start their fizzy electro pop punk music group bringing Ross on board straight away.
They have come a long way since the debut of their first single Show Emotion and their fan base is incredibly broad and varied; Kill me, I am electric and We are the Enemy are just a few of their best known songs.

The innovative quartet from Colchester has already showcased at the SXS 2009 and 2010 festivals in Texas and describe their experience with great enthusiasm:
“When we first saw the crowd dancing outside the building that was hosting the festival, we thought they were queuing to listen to other groups. They were waiting for us, instead! We did not expect such amazing support at the beginning, as many other famous bands with record labels were going to perform,” they said.

People drove several miles to listen to this frantic group, who are already thinking of releasing their first album.
“We are looking for sponsor at the moment, as our plan is to do more touring all over the world. We are going on pure belief about what we are doing; keeping the faith and do what we want to is our leading though,” they added.

Talking about the name of their band, the group explained that Angry vs The Bear is all about evoking super human strength to defeat the thing you are most scared of.
“If you are determined enough you can beat anything no matter how nasty and big,” they added.

Lord Paul Johnson, who is their business manager, truly believes in the potential of the group:
“Angry vs The Bear are a breath of fresh air in the music industry, as they are miles away from the plastic sounds of X-factor. These guys are not manufactured and their individuality will make them great in the world”, he said.

Action for Employment (A4e) is a private British company that provides unemployed people with the specific support they need to find work either in their field or in other industries.
The following article has been written by me at A4e request.

Artist challenge at Action for Employment

Frantic music burst with sharp energy yesterday at Action for Employment (A4e) in Holloway Road to promote clients in the world of art and music to do the job they are passionate about and increase their opportunity.

Artist Challenge was the idea of Maxine Watts, Team Manager of the event venue and ex DJ, who knows how fulfilling a career in this industry can be if you have a love of music.“I saw a documentary on TV about people finding it really hard to get work in the music and when I came to work the next day I discussed this with my line Manager, Abu Najaar as I thought we can have an open day here just to set up placements for our customers wanting to get into the music industry and help them along to finding sustainable employment,” she said.

The opening of this unique event was held by the Branch Manager, Abu Najaar and Blessing Asomugha, who is the branch Work Boost Coordinator and the organiser of this artist challenge.

“Action for Employment is meant to improve the lives of unemployed customers taking part in the programme. Thanks to A4e eight hundred people from all backgrounds went back into work over the last 18 months, but there is still much we can do to support clients coming from the music industry,“ Mr Najaar said.

Ms Asomugha described how this event is a milestone in the history of the company.
“We did realise that it was hard to get a job for clients in arts and music and it was not our fault. Networking is extremely important, as most of the people working in the music industry started as volunteers.“We are going to achieve the task today; we have amazing providers giving opportunity to people in this challenging area. I want to think this is just the beginning of a dream for our customers,” she said.

A long list of well-established Work Boost Providers took part to the event: IMT Hurricane, Hillside Productions, BBC, Galaxy Radio, Flourish International, Viewnowtv.co.uk and Rolling Sound. They introduced themselves to the public, willing to look for new talents.

Hillside Productions Chief Executive Officer Lord Paul Johnson, who built up a fortune from nothing, described how he followed his ambitions to make the work done.
“It is hard for people in the music industry as there will always be someone putting you down, telling you to go and get a proper job, but this is your passion, so, never give up,” he said.

Mr Johnson is also the business manager of Angry vs The Bear, a punchy and innovative quartet from Colchester, who has already showcased at the SXS 2009 and 2010 festivals in Texas, despite having being together for just three years. Their exclusive live performance at A4e gave spectators the chance to appreciate titles like Kill me, I am electric, Show Emotion, We are the Enemy and Start a Rev, just to mention a few.

The day was also brightened up by the notes of DJ’s and several professional vocalists such as Janet Cofie, Kriss-S, Dylan Walshe, Geo Gabriel and Chichia Armstrong. They all gathered at A4e to put themselves in touch with some of the top names in creative industry.

Those who are talented enough but still need to gain all the important technical skills to work in the music industry had a chat with Phil Mc Donnell, director of IMT Hurricane. The company offers a wide range of technical qualification courses and mentoring programmes to unemployed people in the media and music industry. One A4e customer was secured a placement on the programme on the same day!

More than sixty customers from Holloway Road, Camden Town and Westminster took part to the event and some of them are already working even harder than before to achieve their dream.

“We still have lots of lives to transform and want to create more opportunities for clients. This is just the beginning,” Ms Asomugha said.

Got a degree? You will face hard times!

The unemployment rate for graduates has doubled from 10 per cent to 20 per cent since the economic downturn started in 2008.

According to official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it also emerged that graduates have been hit harder by the economic downturn than the UK as a whole.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found that graduates of historical and philosophical studies, law and languages were more likely to end up in low-skill jobs, while those studying medicine and dentistry or veterinary science can reasonably find a job in their field of interest.

While student leaders said the latest figures risked deterring more young people from higher education, teenagers are now being told to consider whether university is worth the investment if they want to secure highly skilled jobs, especially after December 2010, when MPs voted to increase university tuition fees up to £9,000 per year.

It is definitely a hard time for those graduates who want to start a career, as most of them have to accept menial jobs in order to get into work and stay in employment.

Britain stays Conservative

Voters in the UK rejected the Alternative Vote (AV) by 69.7 per cent to 32.1 per cent.

According to the 5^th May Referendum results, those in favour of giving more voice to their political representatives, saw their dream of voting reform crushed for a generation.

Only ten areas in the country voted in favour of the alternative vote and six of them were central London boroughs: Islington, Haringey, Lambeth, Southwark, Camden and Hackney. The last one is also the strongest backing in the country, as 60.7 per cent of its residents voted in favour of AV.

But overall 60.47 per cent of Londoners voted to retain First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system.

Even though Britons voted “No” to AV by a resounding majority, the result is based on a turnout of only 42,2 per cent.

In addition to the first UK wide referendum in a generation, England had local authority elections on the 5^th May.

The Liberal Democrats lost almost half their councillors in town halls across the country, in line with the worst prediction fears, while the Conservatives exceeded expectations, gaining control of four councils, including Gloucester and West Somerset. Labour also celebrated big gains, especially in the North of England.

Britain stays Conservative, at the moment.

Yes or No?

The first UK wide referendum in 35 years will take place tomorrow to decide whether to change the way British people elect MPs.

The current voting system ‘First Past the Post’ (FPTP), according to which people put one ‘X’ for their favourite candidate and the person with the most votes wins, could be scrapped for the ‘Alternative Vote’ (AV) system.

Under AV, which is a more complex system, voters can nominate 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th preferences so that if their favourite candidate is eliminated, they can still have a say until one candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the votes. The order in which candidates are eliminated is vital to determining the final result.

People who will vote ‘Yes’ to change to the Alternative Vote want to give more voice to their political representatives and step away from a system designed for two-party politics only.

Two thirds of current MPs, many with jobs for life, were elected with less than half of the vote; that means today most people are represented by MPs most citizens didn’t vote for.

On the other side, the ‘First Past the Post’ system, which is the most widely used in the world, is also clear and simple; produces strong governments and allows voters to kick out parties they have had enough of.

The referendum is taking place because the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, demanded it during the coalition negotiations last year. And the Lib Dem are also the only major party united behind a ‘Yes’ vote.

The majority of Labour MPs, in fact, are backing a ‘No’ vote and PM David Cameron and the Conservatives want to keep the existing system too.

Some MPs fear the Coalition may now struggle to last the full five-year agreement, as bitter divisions emerged within the referendum campaign.

Whatever the outcome however, this is a once-in-a-generation chance to do politics differently and the Alternative Vote could be a very British revolution, as the result of this referendum is permanent.

In addition to the UK-wide referendum on the voting system many areas in England have local authority elections on May 5.

Polls will be opened all day tomorrow between 7am and 10pm.

They are all fit to work

The sick note culture in Britain must end soon.

Three out of four Employment and Support Allowance claimants are fit to work, according to medical tests carried out by private sector doctors in the biggest crackdown on welfare system in a generation.

Tests found 39 per cent of new claimants fit to work, while a further 36 per cent abandoned their claim before being checked by a doctor, as they knew tests would see them immediately sent to look for a job.

Ministers said figures proved they were right to shake up the welfare system as the current 2.1 million people on Incapacity Benefit costs taxpayers £7bn a year. It would be a price well worth paying if all claimants were actually too sick to work.

Moreover, nearly 80,000 people have claimed Incapacity Benefit for obesity and addiction to alcohol and drugs for several years.

The Government will also test existing Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants in the next three years and ministers expect 1 out of 3 to be passed fit.

From the 27th October 2008 people can no longer make new claims for Incapacity Benefit, they have to claim Employment and Support allowance instead.