On Wednesday, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is expected to rule against the U.K. government in a case challenging the legality of legislation giving British authorities sweeping powers to collect emails, text messages and other data including people’s internet histories. Ironically, the case, which accuses the government of acting illegally, was originally brought by the now-Brexit Secretary David Davis, alongside Labour’s Tom Watson, and backed by the human rights organization Liberty.

The ECJ is expected to rule against the government, demanding more judicial oversight on government and police surveillance. Ministers in the know expect the government to have to revisit the landmark Investigatory Powers Act next year, sparking a fresh Commons fight for May.

The authorities, it is widely believed, can now turn on your mobile phones microphone, remotely without your knowledge.

The Specials video below; 'Why do you record my phone calls are you planning a bootleg LP?' 

Greek lawmakers have approved a controversial Christmas bonus payment for low-earning pensioners that prompted bailout creditors to suspend a debt relief deal agreed upon only last week.

The left-led government insisted again Thursday that it's not doing anything that goes against the terms of its bailout deal with creditors and that it's exercising its sovereign right in providing the handout which will be funded by budget savings.

But European creditors say Athens should have sought clearance first, and on Wednesday froze the short-term debt relief deal that includes a smoothing of some of Greece's repayments to prevent debt humps and a waiving of an interest rate increase.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was due to raise the issue with other European Union leaders during a summit meeting in Brussels Thursday.

 The article on the bonus, which Athens wants to distribute next week, was approved by 196 votes, while 61 lawmakers from the main opposition conservative party abstained.

As lawmakers prepared to vote in Athens, some 5,000 pensioners marched peacefully to Tsipras' office to protest years of cuts to their pensions under the country's bailout commitments.

Protesters said the bonus granted to people receiving up to 850 euros (US$885) a month was too small.

Efstathios Bozos said it's "just a tip" that does little to compensate for a 50 percent reduction in pensions over recent years.

"We want our pensions restored to their previous level," he said.

Greece has imposed income reductions, tax hikes and wide-ranging reforms since 2010 to secure a series of rescue loans that have prevented the country's bankruptcy and exit from the euro currency.

Video below shows pensioners in Greece in October: 

Director of Communications Claire Ainsley has written a new blog Why politicians must listen to people on low incomes.

Claire highlights that people on low incomes are often marginalised and that they must have a stronger voice in democracy. Here are a few of the facts from her blog. 

Joseph Rowntree Foundation 

• people on lower incomes were significantly more likely to believe that Britain should leave the EU, and less likely to believe that Britain should remain in the EU but reduce its power
• 61% of people on low incomes don’t trust politicians to tell the truth compared to 50% of people on higher incomes. People on low incomes are significantly less likely to describe themselves as interested in politics, although the proportion is rising (from 20% in 2000 to 25% in 2015).
• health and disability topped the list of priorities amongst low- and high-income groups, followed by personal finances, crime, immigration, and housing
• 76% of those on low incomes felt they could make no difference to immigration. In contrast only 19% said they could make no difference to their personal finances, 36% housing and 16% education
• people on lower incomes are more likely to feel they have no control over their housing situation (36%) than people not on low incomes (15%).

It all sounds a bit hopeful to us here at the ABC! 

The figures show the recent movements in real AWE (whole economy). This is calculated as nominal unadjusted AWE, divided by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). This series is calculated for regular and total pay at the whole economy level and then seasonally adjusted. The data in Figures 1 and 2 are levels of real and nominal AWE, shown on a monthly basis, with an index of 2000 = 100. 

Comparing the 3 months to October 2016 with the same period in 2015, real AWE (total pay) grew by 1.7%, the same as the growth seen in the 3 months to September. Nominal AWE (total pay) grew by 2.5% in the 3 months to October, while the CPI increased by 0.9% in the year to October 2016. Over the same 3-month period, real AWE (regular pay) grew by 1.7%, the same as the growth seen in the 3 months to September. The nominal AWE (regular pay) rose by 2.6% in the 3 months to October.

The graph below show real wages have fallen 2000-2016. 

Between May to July 2016 and August to October 2016, the number of people in work was little changed, the number of unemployed people decreased, and the number of people not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) increased.

There were 31.76 million people in work, little changed compared with May to July 2016 but 342,000 more than for a year earlier.

Graph below Unemployment

There were 23.20 million people working full-time, 235,000 more than for a year earlier. There were 8.56 million people working part-time, 107,000 more than for a year earlier.

For the 3 months ending October 2016, the highest employment rate in the UK was in the South East (78.1%) and the lowest was in Northern Ireland (69.5%). The employment rate estimates for those aged 16 to 64, for August to October 2016 compared with May to July 2016, showed a range of reasonably large increases and decreases for the regions and countries of the UK.

Figures courtesy ONS

If you want to ensure that your cards arrive in time, the last posting date for Second Class Post in the United Kingdom this year is 20th December! This year the upgrade to First Class only buys you one extra day - the last posting date for First Class cards to arrive on time is 21st December! And if you really like leaving things to the last minute, there are Special Delivery options as late as Friday 23rd (not cheap though!)

Just remember NO sending emotional support dogs throught the post, they cannot get them through the letterbox! Woof, Woof!

According to the government - through 14 name changes, 77 Secretaries and Ministers of State, and across more than 700 jobcentres throughout the country, the DWP has been at the forefront of improving people’s lives.

In 1942 William Beveridge set out how he would tackle the ‘5 giant evils of society’ and create the framework for the modern welfare state. In 2016 DWP continues to meet these challenges [so the government claims] working to reduce poverty, increase financial inclusion, cut workplace accidents and promote greater saving for retirement.

Detractors point out in August 2015 under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith MP, DWP Minister, the department admitted using fictional stories from made-up claimants on leaflets advertising the positive impact of benefit sanctions. Complaints made  following a Freedom of Information request, described this action as deliberately misleading.

Figures showed, that between December 2011 and February 2014, 2,650 people died shortly after their Work Capability Assessment told them that they should be finding work. The DWP had fought hard for the figures not to be released, with chief minister Iain Duncan Smith at one point telling Parliament that they did not exist. These figures are known collectively as the ‘death statistics'.

According to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health by Oxford University and Liverpool University, there were an additional 590 suicides between 2010 and 2013 in areas where Work Capability Assessments were carried out.

Approximately 65%+ of appeals are found in favour of claimants on appeal and campaigners argue that Mandatory Reconsiderations are simply part of a system designed to delay justice. 

There are over 3,000 Benefit Fraud inspectors, yet only approximately around 200 people tasked with tackling tax evasion at the HMRC. Benefit Fraud is a relatively very low figure, yet tax evasion runs into billions of pounds in lost revenue. Half the world’s trade passes through offshore accounts, and the 'UK is the world’s largest tax haven' say campaigners citing the City as a ‘hub’ that is at the centre of international finance.   

The hated Work Program eventually failed, with claimants objecting to be used as ‘slave labour’ and companies eventually distanced themselves from the scheme in the knowledge that their association with it, was damaging their image.

Some members of the public want the former DWP Minister Iain Duncan Smith to stand trial for corporate manslaughter due to the treatment of the disabled by the DWP and their contractors. There has been a stream of scandals involving fraud and abuse by organisations contracted to provide services. 

Welfare support is shrinking and Food Bank usage has skyrocketed. Universal Credit is neither credit nor universal, and the DWP has faced much criticism about the slow roll-out of the new scheme, cost overruns and more.

Many argue that the original mission of the DWP - to help people - has been lost. The nickname the 'Department of Work and Punishment' is an appropriate term, for an organisation that has lost its way, and much of the trust and confidence of the public and DWP customers. 

The main contribution to the increase in UK house prices came from England, where house prices increased by 7.4% over the year to October 2016, with the average price in England now £233,000. Wales saw house prices increase by 4.4% over the last 12 months to stand at £147,000.

In Scotland, the average price increased by 4.0% over the year to stand at £143,000. The average price in Northern Ireland currently stands at £124,000.

The figure below shows how prices are continuing upwards. 

Meanwhile Fuel Prices are increasing due to international prices rises and the drop in the value of the currency due to the BREXIT uncertainty. 

The energy component has experienced the largest changes in prices over the last 2 years. About half of this component is made up of fuels and lubricants, which has been affected by the recent fall and subsequent recovery of the crude oil price.

In November, prices of the energy component grew by 3% compared with the previous year, making it the fastest growing group; the first time this has happened since January 2014. The recent increase in prices for this group is likely to be due to a combination of the recovering oil price, as well as the depreciation of sterling.

As well as energy, all groups showed higher inflation rates in November 2016 than the previous month, with the exception of the lowest import-intensive group (0 to 10%). The main change over the last few months has come from the 30 to 40% component. The annual price change of this group rose from negative 1.7% in June to negative 0.2% in November 2016. Along with energy, components in this group have been the main drivers to the increase in the CPI in recent months.

The graph below shows the contributions the different groups make to the CPI, along with the inverted effective exchange rate (ERI). The ERI series has been inverted so that a depreciation of the currency is represented by an increase in the line graph, helping to interpret a depreciation of the currency as representing a higher sterling equivalent price for imported goods and services.

Image: Headline CPI Inflation November 2016

The rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was 1.2% in the year to November 2016, compared with a 0.9% annual increase in the previous month. The CPI data for November 2016 is the fifth month to include information gathered since the UK’s referendum on its membership of the European Union and the changes in the sterling exchange rate which followed.

The graph below presents the 12-month growth rate in prices of products grouped by their relative import intensities. Goods and services which largely originate from domestic producers are grouped together in a low import intensity group, while products which largely come from abroad are grouped into higher import intensity groups. Energy products – which have considerable import content, on which the price of oil has a particular impact – are grouped separately.

Figures courtesy of the Office of National Statistics ONS

We do love our music here at the ABC and we do feature music to lift the soul and to illustrate articles. Occasionally you come across artists so talented that you wonder where it comes from? English folk singer Hannah Sanders & Ben Saunders are fast building a reputation as one of the most exciting singers of folk songs around. 

Here are a couple of tracks. See what you think? 

In the year 2015-2016 the public donated 10,570 tonnes of food which fed over a million people at Trussell Trust foodbanks, up from 1,225 tonnes (which fed less than 130,000 people) five years ago.

The rise of food banks and increasing need for help with food has been a high profile – and hotly contested – issue in recent years. Recent UN Food and Agriculture Organisation figures suggest that 8.4 million people struggle to access enough adequate food in the UK.

The caring, sharing, Co-op has donated 38,000 items to 25 food banks but they have faced some serious criticism on social media according to the Daily Mail, after a customer tweeted a picture of an own-brand grocery display touted as 'ideal for the food bank'.

It led to a furious response from Twitter users who accused Co-op's charitable appeal as a scheme for 'pushing stuff customers won't buy just to make a profit,' as one put it. 

The project, backed by £280,000 of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investment, will include 4 new picture books to promote group discussions on finding and keeping a job. Beyond Words is a social enterprise which already produces unique books, services and training for people who find pictures easier to understand than words.

Their new project builds on the success of book groups for people with learning disabilities and autism and will be the start of a new focus on 4 stages of employment including leaving school or college, volunteering, finding work and staying in a job.

As part of the project, new book clubs focused on work will be developed across England, where the books will be used to start conversations. People with learning disabilities will be trained as a national network of peer supporters to work with the clubs.

At a launch event in central London, the Work and Pensions Secretary met people who are set to benefit from the project.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Damian Green, said:

A disability should not dictate the path a person is able to take in life. What should count is a person’s talent and their determination to succeed.

Beyond Words book clubs help people with a learning disability to break down the barriers they face. It’s a brilliant project that offers people with learning disabilities the support they need. I look forward to working with them.

People with a learning disability are more excluded from the workplace than any other group of disabled people. More than 65% of people with a learning disability and autism would like a paid job yet only 7% have one and in many cases this is part time work.

As set out in the work, health and disability green paper, working with charities, businesses, community groups and others is central to the government’s ambition to help more disabled people reap the benefits of work.

Baroness Hollins, founder and chair of Beyond Words, who also spoke at the launch event, said:

The majority of disabled people want to work and hope that they can find work that interests them and recognises their skills. Beyond Words co-creates stories without words with people with learning disabilities that resonate with the reality of their own lives. They are stories that help people to understand the ways of the world, to share their own stories and aspirations and to tackle the barriers that prevent them from participating fully in community life.

Groups of learning disability service providers, employment services and experts with learning disabilities will form an integral part of the project through advisory groups on each book and on training.

Gary Butler, self-advocate and trainer with Beyond Words and St George’s, University of London, said:

Working makes me feel good, it gives me independence and helps pay the bills. These new books will be good to help other people achieve what I have.

Stephen Langley, a co-creator of one of the 4 new books, said:

It can make a difference to people that find it hard to read. People will be able to hope that they can get a job. They can believe in themselves and get work. The story will show what people can do and that we all have more abilities than we realise and we just have to find out what they are.

Dr Roger Banks, National Senior Psychiatry Lead, NHS England Learning Disability Programme, and one of the authors of the project, said:

The impact of being in employment and stable accommodation on health and wellbeing, social inclusion and health inequalities is well recognised in the general population.

Increasingly this is being addressed for people with learning disabilities for whom having a job can be a significant factor in developing self-esteem, social networks and integration and consequently better physical and mental health.