Latest Articles By Simon Collyer

As Book Week Scotland draws to a close, figures sourced by SPICe have revealed that over 83% of primary school children have signed up to participate in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. The initiative, backed by the Scottish Reading Trus...

It is ABC founder Simon Collyer’s birthday today: November 25th.  **** I would just like to say a special thank you to all those who have helped me found the ABC and this includes Christopher Johnson - a finer friend no one could have. Wit...

There were 857,000 young people (aged 16 to 24) in the UK who were not in education, employment or training (NEET), an increase of 14,000 from April to June 2016 and up 3,000 from a year earlier. The percentage of all young people in the UK who were...

The new £5 note was issued on Tuesday 13 September. The New Fiver is the first note to be made from polymer, a flexible plastic material, and it features Sir Winston Churchill. You can continue to spend paper £5 n...

Have you ever complained about to cost of fuel? Here is an interesting table that gives some food for thought. The Index starts in 2010 at 100 and you can see that prices have actually fallen recently, in the post-recession period. Petroleum costs ar...

Not quite ready to join the BREXIT crowd? EURES is the European Job Seekers portal. The website is full of useful information about working in EU countries.  The purpose of EURES is to provide information, advice and recruitment/placement (job-m...

A very moving talk about austerity and benefit cuts. Jack Monroe (born 1988, Southend-on-Sea) is a writer, journalist and activist who has campaigned over poverty issues, particularly hunger relief, and has published a blog and several books of...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has today (8 September 2016) announced that he will present his first Autumn Statement to Parliament on 23 November 2016. The Autumn Statement is based on the latest forecasts from the Office for Budge...

Controversial plans that would require anyone needing healthcare in England’s hospitals to provide two forms of identification, including a passport, were relayed to Westminster’s public accounts committee yesterday.   The Department...

Will Quince MP (Conservative, Colchester) has responded to a letter sent as part of a campaign regarding, Universal Credit. We regard cutting of benefits as a major case of hardship and suffering. The High Wage economy – well that’s anoth...