Today’s post reacts to the news that next week, in the UK, workers will make history by staging a strike at two McDonald’s restaurants – one in London and one in Cambridge. The first strike of its kind in McDonald’s British history is a result of poor working conditions, the use of the infamous ‘zero-hour’ contracts, and a demand for an increase in the minimum wage paid to McDonald’s employees. In this post this particular story will be used a vehicle to cover an aspect that has almost become accepted in the mainstream media, unfortunately, and that is the concept of austerity and its repulsive effects. Whilst onlookers hope that the strike will see a revolution-of-sorts amongst the fast-food industry with regards to working conditions, the reality it is that the underlying causes of the grievances aired by the staff will remain whatever the outcome of the strike, as the problem is a systemic problem. The proposed strike, which is scheduled to take place on Monday 4 th Septembe...

This post is concerned with the recent publication from the ‘Financial Exclusion Committee’, a committee that was set up by the House of Lords to ‘ consider financial exclusion and access to mainstream services ’. The report has created headlines that allude to the poorest in Britain being excluding from banking services, and ultimately being turned towards ‘ high-cost credit ’ and ‘ rent-to-own ’ products, However, there are a number of aspects, some of which are particularly vital for society, which emanate from this report and are worth considering. Ultimately, the report suggests a number of reforms and, although advisory in nature, strikes the right tone in terms of what is required to protect the vulnerable in society as we rocket towards a new phase. The report tackles a number of issues in terms of what is being labelled ‘financial exclusion’. The first aspects that we will look at revolve around the role of the banks within society. The first recommendation that may hav...